The Ohsukah Tournament
by Evil Towel
Summary: Wondering what the story is? Check the title. Chapter 20 up! YAY! Peace and serenity is shattered as the team is ruthlessly forced out of bed and onto the leaving bus. Once on, the task turns to entertainment during the 36 hour ride...
1. Default Chapter

**_ Yep, the tournament's up again! It didn't take me half as long as I expected. I made a mistake with one of the characters, and it affected EVERYTHING else...well, you'll see. _**

A bit of information for all of you. This takes place about 2 years after the Dark Tournament...Yusuke is 16, Kuwabara is however-old-he-was plus 2, Kurama is 17 (and can, by mine and U.S. standards, drive ^ ^), and Hiei...well, no one really knows. 

The story doesn't seem to have much to do with the Tournament at the beginning, but trust me, we'll get there. By the end of the chapter, the Tournament will be introduced, so just read it out and bear with me. 

Now, this takes place as if nothing from the other Tournament has happened. Wipe your mind of all memories from that...you know nothing ...the Ohsukah Tournament has never happened...never...until now. 

It should have been a normal day in Japan. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Picture perfect, and peaceful, right? 

That had been half an hour ago. Now, a sudden torrent of rain had dropped from the sky for no apparent reason, drenching all those who didn't have a roof to run under, or anything similar. 

It also drenched those in the room when a window was open. 

Kuwabara quickly slammed the window shut before they got too wet. He and Yusuke were in his room. They were SUPPOSED to be working on a poster for school, but you know Yusuke... 

"It's raining pretty hard out there," Kuwabara commented, as he returned to the not-even-started poster lying on the floor. 

"Yeah," Yusuke said, staring out the window. 

"Are you going to help, Urameshi, or just sit there?" 

"I was GOING to help, but now that you're pushing me, I don't think so." 

"That's not funny, Urameshi! This poster is half of our grade!" 

"And since I hardly go to school, this would matter to me how?" Yusuke said, yawning. Kuwabara's eyes narrowed. 

"Then go home." 

"Are you NUTS? In THAT weather? No way! Besides, Mom's gotten drunk again and the house is a mess. I'm not going home just yet." 

"Then help. Or I'll---" 

"You'll what? Beat me up like the last 150 times?" 

"No, I'll---" A loud crash of thunder cut off his words. 

"Fine, I'll help," Yusuke grumbled, and moved over to where Kuwabara was working. "What's the poster about, anyway?" 

"Either 'Animal Intelligence' or...oops." 

" 'Oops'? What's oops?" Kuwabara looked up from the assignment paper, a horrified look on his face. 

"This was supposed to be a research project." 

"Oh, sh---" Yusuke's word was also cut off by a loud crash of thunder, "How are we going to get it done now?" 

"Well, we could stay up all night and do it, or we could find someone who knows..." Kuwabara pondered. 

"But who do we know that knows anything about animal intelligence?" Yusuke asked. Kuwabara shrugged. There was silence (except for the ever-pouring rain and thunder) as the two of them, for once, did some thinking. Almost simoltaneously they came up with the answer. 

"Kurama!" 

*** 

Hiei flitted from tree to tree, heading steadily for Kurama's house. The rain did not bother him; it never did, so why should it now? 

Kurama's window was not locked; it almost never was. Hiei opened it just enough so he could slip through, and shut it behind him so as not to let the rain in. The kitsune seemed to be busy with that ningen thing called a phone; Hiei slipped over and sat on his bed, waiting. Kurama's eyes flickered over to him, and he gave a small smile, acknowledging him. Hiei gave a small nod and indicated that he could wait. 

"...since when does Yusuke worry about school work?" Kurama was saying. So he was talking to Yusuke. Something about school. Hiei frowned and fingered his katana. Only being able to hear one end of the conversation was irritating. 

"If you want to understand the information, you should do it yourself. Yes. Yes-what do you mean? You've got the whole night." Kurama frowned, "I heard that. You can tell Yusuke I am not going to come over and do it for him." So maybe he wasn't talking to Yusuke. Who then? Probably Kuwabaka. 

"I'm not blaming you." He sighed, "All right. What do you know so far?" There was a long silence. Apparently, Kuwabara knew more than he let on. Hiei amused himself by using his ki to burn off all the water on him, and then the water that had dripped onto the bed. 

The smallest tickle of someone---something's---ki interrupted his concentration. Hiei glanced over at the window just in time to see something break the glass and come flying through, heading straight for Kurama, who had turned around at the sound of breaking glass. 

Hiei had leapt off the bed and knocked the fox over before he knew what he was doing. The arrow---for it was an arrow---zipped through the air, not harming anything, and stuck in Kurama's bulletin board, effectively going through Kuwabara's head on a group photo. And what was more, there was a note attached to the arrow. 

Kuwabara's voice on the dropped phone broke the stunned silence that followed. 

"Kurama? Kurama, you still there?" 

*** 

"What's going on?" Yusuke asked. 

"I don't know, Kurama's not answering," Kuwabara said, "Kurama?" Yusuke hit the speakerphone button. 

"Kurama, are you there?" 

"I'm here." Kurama's voice came over the phone. He sounded shaken. 

"What happened?" Kuwabara asked. 

"Yeah," Yusuke said, for backup. 

"I'm not entirely sure," Kurama said. There was a loud curse in the background. 

"Is Hiei there?" Yusuke asked. 

"The two of you need to get over here right now," Kurama said, for answer. 

"But---" 

"NOW." Kurama hung up, and the dial tone sounded a moment later. Kuwabara hung up and turned to Yusuke. 

"Now what?" 

"We go to Kurama's, stupid!" Yusuke was already throwing on his jacket, "Hurry up!" Kuwabara grabbed an umbrella and the two of them raced out of the house. 

*** 

To Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei:   
You have been invited to take part in the bi-annual Ohsukah Tournament. It is almost the same as the Dark Tournament, except for the fact that teams consist of seven, not five. Therefore, you will need to find three more people for your team. It is necessary that you do so, as non-participation in this tournament is not an option.   
We'll be seeing you soon. 

"ANOTHER tournament?" Yusuke said, not belieiving. 

"That's what it looks like," Kurama said. Kuwabara was panicking. 

"ANOTHER ONE? I'M GONNA DIE!" 

"You almost died in the last one. Several times," Hiei said, "Unfortunately, you never went all the way." Kuwabara was too panicked to notice him. 

"I'm gonna die, I know it!" 

"Coward." 

"What did you say, shrimpy?" 

"They're at it again," Yusuke murmured, sweatdropping. 

"Uh-huh," Kurama agreed. 

"So how are we are supposed to find three more people?" Yusuke asked. 

"Ask Koenma!" Kuwabara said. "The toddler should know." 

*** 

"No idea. Find them yourself." 

"But Koenma---" 

"It's not MY fault you got roped into this tournament, is it?" 

"It probably is." 

"Shut up, Hiei." 

"Hn." 

"It's not our fault either," Kurama said, "But we don't have any choice." 

"Not my problem. Here." Koenma thrust a piece of paper at Yusuke. "That tells you how to get to the ferry. Find the team members yourself, I'm busy. Now go away!" 

***   
_To Be Continued_   
*** 

_**Koenma's so helpful, isn't he? Ah, well. Here's the disclaimer for this chapter 'cuz I forgot at the beginning. **_

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Wish I did. 

Next chapter's already underway; expect it in a week or a few days if I'm bored. In the meantime, please review, and if you have any ideas, they would appreciated. Thank you!   
~Niyali 


	2. Three's a Crowd, Is Seven a Team?

**_ Chapter Two! Yay! This is going to be a long one...yet the tournament doesn't start 'til about chapter four. But we'll get there! Ah, well, here you go! _**

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of YYH. __

One more thing. I'm a lazy person, so from now on, each disclaimer applies to the whole story and I'm probably not going to repeat 'em. Got it?...ok, that sounded more like a threat then anything I've ever written before. *shrugs* Well, you know that's not what I meant!...right? 

More Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Kozu or Arashi. My friends do, as the real Arashi keeps reminding me. 

Chapter Two: Three's A Crowd, Is Seven A Team? 

***   
_Death Isle Train Loading Field_   
*** 

"There sure are a lot of people going to this tournament," Arashi commented. 

"Yeah," Kozu agreed, "There must be a least a hundred!" 

"Mm," Niyali said, from above them. 

The three girls were waiting under the only tree in the center of the field that the competitors were gathered in. The train tracks ran along one edge of it, and there was a loading platform halfway along. The train had yet to arrive. 

Arashi sat on one of the lower branches; as did Kozu. Niyali waited in the much, much higher branches, the ones that seemed they wouldn't support anyone, no matter how little they weighed. 

"Will you come down?" Arashi asked Niyali, "We need to find a team that has some open slots!" 

"The field is full of ugly people and I don't want to see their faces," came the reply. Kozu blinked. 

"That was rude," she commented. 

"It's true." 

"Can't argue with that," Arashi said, cheerfully, "Just look at all the people shorter than me!" 

"_I'm_ shorter than you," Kozu said. Arashi sweatdropped. 

"Whoopsies..." Kozu rolled her eyes and began looking at the groups of people all around them. 

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nope they're full. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nope they're full. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nope they're full. One, two, three, four, nope they're full. One, two, three--wait!" Kozu turned back to the fourth group she'd counted. "They only have four!" 

"We can join them!" Arashi exclaimed, also looking around, "Uh, where are they?" There was a rustle of branches above them as Niyali climbed up to the top of the tree. 

"I see them," she said, "And there is NO WAY we are joing that team." 

"Why not?" Kozu and Arashi asked, simotaneously. 

"They have a fire demon," Niyali said, as if that made all the difference in the world. 

"Fire demon!? Could it be Hiei?" Arashi asked excitedly. 

"I hope not," Kozu muttered. 

"Why? Hiei's the _BEST_!" Arashi said, little hearts appearing in her eyes, "Hiei..." 

"Why do you like him so much?" Niyali asked, "He's a _fire demon_." She said the words 'fire demon' as if they were bad. 

"I know," Arashi said, lost in la-la land, "He's been gone for so long...I've missed him...but I KNOW he still likes me." 

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he's been avoiding you because he thinks you're annoying?" Kozu asked. 

"Why would he think _that_?" 

"Maybe 'cause it's true," Niyali said. Kozu stifled her laughter with a cough. Arashi frowned. 

"Maybe to you, who's never had a boyfriend and will NEVER understand, but Hiei would never--HIEI!" With a happy cry, she had leapt out of the tree and bounded off into the crowd. 

"Arashi, wait!" Niyali and Kozu quickly climbed out themselves and ran after her. 

***   
_Death Isle Train Loading Field_   
*** 

"We are never going to find three more people," Yusuke moaned. 

"We could do what we did for the last round of the Dark Tournament," Kurama suggested, "Get three people just to fill in and not necessarily fight." 

"Nah." There was a silence as the four of them scanned the crowd, looking for anyone who might _possibly_ be a fighter without a team. It wasn't going very well. 

"Did I hear someone call my name?" Hiei asked, after a moment. No one answered. 

"Hiei!" 

"That's strange, now I'm hearing someone calling Shrimpy's name," Kuwabara said. 

"HIEI!" 

"Then someone must be," Kurama said, "But--" 

_**"HIEI!"**_

A blur of purplishness collided with Hiei, knocking him down onto the ground. 

"What the--NO! NOT YOU!" The purplish blur turned out to be a girl that had a lot of purple on her. Her hair was lavender and went down to the middle of her back in a ponytail. She wore a purple sweater with kangaroo pockets that looked to be too big for her and black shorts, as well as sneakers. Her purple eyes were filled with glee and bliss as she wrapped her arms tightly around Hiei, looking as if she'd never let go. 

"I've been looking for you for _years_!" she exclaimed, "And I finally found you!" 

"That's nice, Arashi, now GET OFF ME!" Arashi's eyes closed in happiness as she huggled Hiei tighter. 

"Aw, look Niyali," said another voice, "Arashi and her boyfriend are back together again." 

"Although I think that's wonderful, Kozu," said a third, "I will say that I think Arashi has bad taste in men." 

"HEY!" The couple--though Hiei didn't like calling them that--turned towards the speakers. Two girls were standing there, both short, but one shorter than the other. 

The shortest was about the height of Rinku, and had her long brown hair bound back in a style similar to Kurama's. Her eyes were the same color green, as well. She had her hands in the pockets of her blue jeans, her t-shirt was pale yellow with dark blue sleeves; her feet were in sneakers and a leather collar with a blue crystal was around her neck. 

The taller looked to be about Hiei's height, give or take an inch. She wore black jeans and a blue sweater, which looked too big for her, just like Arashi's, as well as sneakers. Her blue eyes were cold as she glared at Hiei, and little flowers and plants peeked out from her shoulder-length dark blonde hair. A long, stout stick was in one of her hands. Hiei wrenched Arashi off of him and went over to the taller girl. 

"What did you say?" 

"I said I think Arashi has bad taste in men," Niyali repeated. Hiei growled and lunged at her. She simply stepped to the side. Kozu, on the other hand, sought refuge on Yusuke's head. 

"What're you doing up there?" 

"...seeking refuge?" 

"Well, get off." 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" 

"I think we have another problem, Urameshi..." Kuwabara said. Yusuke and Kozu turned to look. 

Niyali and Hiei were now engaged in a ferocious fight. Katana and stick lay forgotten on the ground beside them as the two rolled, kicked, punched, bit, pulled, and tried to kill the other person. 

"NIYALI!" "HIEI!" Males and females leapt forward to try to pull the two apart. 

"Stop that, you two!" Arashi shrieked, "Friends aren't supposed to fight!" 

"HE/SHE'S NOT MY FRIEND!" 

"But you agree on so many things!" 

"Arashi, shut up I'm trying to kill Hiei." 

"But...I LIKE Hiei!" 

"You SHOULDN'T." 

"Exactly right, 'cause I don't like you." 

"You...don't?" 

"NO!" 

"That's ok. I know you don't mean it." 

"Arashi, quit with the small talk and help us seperate the two of them!" 

"Oh, right!" Arashi raced forward to help, and soon Niyali and Hiei were ten feet away from each other; restrained (more or less) by two people each. 

"LET ME GO!" Niyali and Hiei yelled, at (more or less) the same time. 

"NO!" 

"We have to get on the train," Yusuke pointed out (the train had arrived during their fight), "And there's no fighting on the train." 

"We don't have to," Niyali spat. 

"Why not?" 

"Oh, right, we don't have a team," Kozu said, sadly, "Oh, well, I guess we'll just go find a team with four people that we could join..." 

"But I thought---" Arashi started. Kozu stepped on her foot. "Ow! Uh, I meant, you wouldn't happen to know of any teams with four people, would you?" Kuwabara looked thoughtful [**_That's never good..._**]. 

"No," he said, nodding, "But I'll let you know if I find one." Yusuke sweatdropped. 

"Idiot. We have three open slots, if you want to join us..." 

"NO!" Niyali and Hiei yelled at the same time. 

"YAY! WE ACCEPT!" Arashi let go of Niyali and latched happily onto Hiei's arm. 

"On one condition, though," Yusuke said, on a second thought. 

"What's that?" 

"You," he pointed to Niyali, "And you," he pointed to Hiei, "Have to get along." 

"WHAT?" Arashi looked at Hiei and Niyali, who were both staring at Yusuke in disbelief. 

"That's right. You do." Kozu nodded once in agreement. Niyali and Hiei glared at each other. The train blew a warning whistle. 

"If you don't agree, I'll turn you in, Niyali," Arashi said. Niyali's head snapped towards her. 

"What...but you..." 

"I will." 

"You did it too!" 

"Not half as many times as you did." 

"You have no right to bring that up." 

"Yes I do! I'm your friend!" 

"Not for long..." 

"Turn you in for what?" Kuwabara asked. 

"Nothing," Niyali spat at him before turning to Hiei. "Fine." She held out her hand grudgingly. Hiei eyed it suspiciously. 

"If YOU don't agree," Arashi told him, "I'll...I'LL HUGGLE YOU!" 

"You already do that." 

"I'LL HUGGLE YOU NIGHT AND DAY!" 

"You already do that too." 

"I'll huggle you...less." Hiei paused. There was someone shouting something to them from the train, and waving anxiously. 

"Fine." The two of them shook hands once before dropping them as if the other was contaminated. 

"Let's go," Yusuke said, and they sprinted across the field, boarding the train about two seconds before it started moving. 

***  
_Somewhere_  
*** 

Stars twinkled peacefully overhead. There were no clouds to obscure any portion of the night, and the moon smiled down on all those underneath it. 

This included the Death Isle Train. 

Arashi lay in her bed, staring out the window. All she could see were the stars moving along with them; she felt the train as it went over a bump in the track. Her bed was pushed smack under the window. Niyali's was on her left, Kozu's on her right. Arashi could just make out their figures, lying still in their beds. The boys were in a different cabin, just across the way (their cabin was just a little bit larger...it had to fit four beds, after all). The girls were pushed directly against each other; the remainder of the cabin had a small partition and the toilet/sink was on the other side of it. The rest of the train was simple; a dining car, a washing car (who wanted to wash there? The water sloshed all over and you got wet when you were trying to get dry), a cooking car for the food to be cooked, the engine, and the cars for the cabins, two cabins per team and eight cabins per car. There was not much to do, and they were going to be on the train for two more days and one and a half nights (the train was schueduled to arrive at Death Isle sometime after midnight). 

On her right, Kozu stirred and rolled over. 

"Arashi?" she whispered, "Are you awake?" 

"Yeah." 

"D'you think we made the right decision?...the team, I mean." 

"Of _course_ we did. Any team that's got Hiei on it is the right team for me!" 

"I guess...but what about the other boys? We don't know anything about them. They have yet to tell us their names, too." 

"...we'll just ask them tomorrow." 

"But who knows if they're powerful enough? We came here to win, not to lose." 

"DUH. But so did everyone else. And besides, Hiei wouldn't join just _ any_ team." 

"...you really are obssesed, aren't you?" 

"Am not!" Arashi's voice took on a defensive tone, "I just like Hiei." 

"Right." Kozu rolled her eyes in the darkness, but Arashi was not able to see that. 

"But let's exclude Hiei for a moment. D'you think we still made the right choice?" 

"It's not like there was another choice to make." 

"I know, but..." Kozu's voice trailed off. For once, Arashi was right. 

"I wonder if Niyali's awake," Kozu whispered. 

"Let's find out!" Arashi said, "Hey Niyali..." There was silence. 

"Niyali?" When Niyali did not respond, Arashi poked her. After poking her a second time, Niyali moaned and rolled over to face them. 

"What?" she asked. 

"Are you awake?" Arashi asked. 

"No, I'm asleep." 

"Oh. Ok!" 

"I might as well be awake now," Niyali said. The flowers in her hair, which had been tightly closed a moment before, began to open now. 

"Ok!" Kozu said, "We're talking about our new team members." 

"What about them?" Niyali brought her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and laid her head on top. 

"Do YOU think we made the right choice?" Arashi asked her. 

"No." 

"Why?" Kozu prompted. 

"Fire demons and my kind don't get along." 

"Well, DUH, everyone knows that fire and wood don't go together. But what if we excluded Hiei?" 

"...I still don't think we made a good choice. I mean, two of them are humans." 

"I thought three of them were humans." Arashi said. 

"One of them seems more demon-like," Kozu said, "Besides, he reminds me of someone." 

"Who?" Niyali prompted. Kozu shrugged. 

"I dunno. My older brother." 

"You have an older brother?" Arashi asked, incredously. Kozu nodded. 

"We're cutting Niyali off. Go on." 

"Well, two of them are humans, one's...something else, and the fourth's a fire-demon. Humans, no offense to them, are usually not very...powerful, you know what I mean?" Kozu and Arashi nodded sage-like. 

"What're we supposed to tell them?" Kozu whispered, after a moment had passed. 

"About what?" Niyali and Arashi asked simotaneously. 

"You know. Us. What we can do. What we are. What we aren't. All that junk." 

"No way!" Arashi and Niyali said, also simotaneously. "We'll see what they tell us, and we'll tell them the same amount," Niyali said. "They'll see how we fight sooner or later, and same with us. The rest...they can figure it out on their own." Kozu giggled softly. 

"Fun!" 

"Yep. Now, what can we do to annoy them tomorrow...?" 

***  
_Death Isle Train; Team Urameshi Boys Cabin_  
***

The boys were holding their own discussion. Their cabin was bigger; it had bunk beds. The bottom ones were sofas during the day, the top ones came out of the walls. Hiei was on the top left bunk, Kurama on the one below him; Yusuke on the top right and Kuwabara bottom right. The window and main entrance were parallel to each other, and perpendicular to the bunks. However, they had no bathroom. 

"So, what do you think about our new teammates?" Yusuke asked. 

"I think they're weird," Kuwabara announced. 

"You're weird," Hiei told him. 

"Shut up, shrimpy." 

"Hn." 

"They were looking for a team," Kurama said, thoughtfully, "I wonder why they couldn't find one before us." 

"Maybe they're no good," Kuwabara suggested, "That's why nobody wanted them." 

"If they weren't any good, they would know it," Hiei snapped, "Besides, I know Arashi. She's not THAT bad. Any team could...benefit from having her," he added, reluctantly. 

"What about the others?" Yusuke asked. 

"I don't know, I've only dealt with Arashi before. But from what I've seen, they're all nuisances." 

"Hiei's right," Kurama said, sighing. 

"I feel like a baby-sitter," Yusuke grumbled, after a moment's silence. Kozu had stayed on top of his head for the rest of the day. Arashi had refused to let go of Hiei, and Niyali had ignored Kuwabara completely, forcing Kurama to get her to give Hiei's bandana back after Kozu had stolen it and given it to her. 

Kurama chuckled. 

"I guess we've each sort of adopted them," he said, "Except for Kuwabara. Yusuke's got Kozu, Arashi will do anything for Hiei, and since Niyali won't listen to Kuwabara I guess I can handle her. If we split them up, they can't be that hard to deal with." 

"You don't know Arashi," Hiei said, "And if they've been with her too long, we're going to be taking care of three children for the next few weeks." 

"Change of subject," Yusuke said, rolling his eyes, "What do you think they can do?" 

"I'm expecting Niyali to be using plants of some sort," Kurama said, "She does have plants in her hair, after all." 

"Makes sense," Yusuke admitted. "And Arashi?" 

"Her techniques are unusual," Hiei said, "You'll be surprised." 

"O-kay, and Kozu?" There was a silence. Nobody knew. 

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," Kuwabara muttered, and the conversation ended for the night. 

***

**_ I think that's enough for you to go on for now. That's over seven pages, after all. _**

Next time! The train gets to the tournament, and the competitors to the hotel. But what happens when the guys leave the girls alone in the hotel room? You'll just have to read to find out! 

(The chapter after that's the official beginning of the tournament. I promise.) 

~Niyali 


	3. Apprehension and Elimination

**_So sorry...the Halloween party has been removed due to fanfiction.net's new rules. If anybody would like to read it, let me know and I'll forward it to you. ~Niyali _**

Disclaimer: Same as last time, except now we don't own the characters of Serena, Faye, and Minoru. If you'd like to use them in one of your fics, contact their owners. 

Chapter Three: Apprehension and Elimination 

"They act like they've never seen an ocean before," Kurama said, to the boys. They were sitting in the dining car eating dinner. The girls had claimed the window seats, and had their faces pressed to the glass, staring out at the clear ocean water, which was sparkling in the setting sun. It was truly a beautiful sight, and the girls were savoring every moment of it. 

This was their last meal on the train. They were due to arrive at the tournament later that day, and the mood was mixed about this. 

The buzz of conversation was a bit lower; apprehension was building. No one knew what to expect. 

The engineer's voice over the intercom startled them all. 

"Goooooooooooooooood evening, competitors! I hope you've all had a wonderful time on the Death Isle Train! We'll be reaching Death Isle in a few hours or so, but because it's an island, hence the name 'Death Isle', we're going to be taking the scenic route..._under_ water." 

"COOL!" Kozu shrieked, "We're going underwater!" Hiei didn't look so happy about this (he is a fire demon, after all). 

"But to do this," the engineer continued, "We're going to have to borrow just a little bit of energy from each and every one of you. Nothing serious, most of you will probably just feel a little dizzy, and for the weaklings... well, I'm not going there. Thank you for your cooperation, we'll let you know when we arrive." As the intercom turned off, all of them felt a slight tug as some of their energy was sapped away. The world seemed to spin for a moment before it righted again, and Kozu was able to sit up, blinking away the spots. 

"Well," she said, "That was...NIYALI!" Niyali was slumped against the table, her breathing slow and shallow. She was unconscious. 

"Weakling," Hiei muttered. 

"That's not nice, Hiei," Arashi told him, and began whispering something with Kozu, glancing at Niyali every now and then. 

"What happened to her?" Yusuke asked, as Kurama sat Niyali back up, her head lolling on her shoulder. 

"Energy loss," he said, "Nothing serious, she should be back to normal in a while." 

"Well, well," said a sneering voice, "So the weak are being weeded out already." The six of them looked up to see a man standing in front of them. He was tall, muscular, with his black hair pulled back in a ponytail. His eyes were black, and from his left ear hung a small, silver hoop earring. He wore tan pants that were tucked into his black boots and a black leather jacket. 

"Pitiful, isn't it?" he continued, "Those who can't fight shouldn't bother showing up here." 

"Listen, you," Kozu said, standing on the seat to make her seem taller, "That's our friend you're talking about there." 

"And Niyali can fight just as well as you can," Arashi said, standing on the seat as well, "In fact, she's probably better than you!" 

"Not that that's hard to do," Kozu added. He smiled, a cold, hard, smile. 

"Really? Well, perhaps she and I should fight some time. Then we'll see who's better." 

"We can't speak for her," Arashi said, "But I'll tell you---" 

"Enough, Minoru," said another voice, "Stop bothering the other teams." The speaker was a female with white-blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a white tunic over white pants that was belted with a chain of diamonds, as well as diamond jewelry, with no shoes. 

"Some people have a harder time adjusting to the energy loss than others," she said, with a slow, deliberate, calmness in her voice, "You would, too, if you had plants growing out of your head." 

"Serena, if I wanted your opinion I would've asked for it," Minoru growled. 

"It hurts that you would abuse a fellow lover of nature," Serena said, her face impassive. 

"Whatever," he said, "Come, let us get back to the others...those who are _worthy_ to fight in this tournament." He turned and walked away. Serena smiled gently at Team Urameshi before following herself. 

"I don't like him," Kuwabara said, after a moment had gone by. 

"Jerk," Yusuke muttered, "Dissing our teammate like that just because she-- WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Arashi had seized a plant that was in Niyali's hair and _pulled_. It came out...root and all. The boys just stared. 

"They grow in her hair?" Kurama asked, after a moment had passed. 

"Yep," Kozu said, pulling another one out of Niyali's head. A trickle of blood came with it this time, running down Niyali's face. 

"Ew," Kuwabara said. 

"What do those things _do_?" Yusuke asked. 

"Nobody knows," Arashi said, "Not even her." 

"GAH! You mean they grow out of her head and she doesn't know what they do?" Kuwabara's mouth was open now. 

"Basically," Kozu said. 

"Why are you pulling them out?" Hiei asked. 

"Well..." Arashi exchanged a look with Kozu before continuing, "They grow out of her head, you know? But plants can't grow on nothing, so they feed off her energy." 

"I get it," Kurama said, "So the more of them or the bigger they are, the more energy they take?" Arashi nodded. 

"So when they took a bit of energy from each of us," Yusuke figured, "It was too much for her?" 

"Exactly," Arashi said, "So we pull them out every now and then. We're doing it now 'cause she's unconscious and can't feel 'em." 

"Niyali's been a bad girl," Kozu said, "She hasn't pulled them out in what, 3 weeks?" 

"3 months, more like," Arashi corrected her. The pile of plants increased, as did the amount of blood flowing from Niyali's scalp. Kurama picked up one of the plants and studied it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket for later analysis. 

The train rolled on. 

***  
_Death Isle--Midnight_  
***

"This is the first elimination round!" the announcer said, happily. The train had arrived at Death Isle, and the people had gotten off. It was dark, so they couldn't see the announcer except for an outline. 

"Elimination round?" Yusuke asked, his mouth falling open, "But Niyali's still unconscious--she can't fight!" 

"Who said anything about _fighting_?" The announcer asked, "We're having a car race!" The crickets chirped insanely for a moment before the competitors burst into laughter. 

"Car race, that's a good one!" Kuwabara roared, elbowing Kurama, "Like they'd actually make us do that!" 

"What a joke!" Someone called out. 

"That's a good one!" The announcer (her name was Faye) smiled. 

"Glad you got a laugh out of it," she said, "Now, do any of you know what's so special about the Ohsukah Tournament? What makes it different and perhaps better than all the rest?" There were a few negative murmurs. 

"It's the way we do things," Faye continued, "And not just our battles--but the elimination rounds and the other things in between. In other words--here are the rules of this round. You must have all seven members of your team inside the car at all times. Follow the main route; if you veer off you're on your own. No speed limits, no stoplights, no major road rules just good ol' racing, until you reach the City. If, after that, you break a road rule, you are OUT. First eight teams to cross the finish line will move on! Any questions?" The crickets chirped merrily on. 

"Then let's go! Follow me to the cars!" Stunned, the competitors followed her a little ways to where 16 cars were parked. 

"Are they mad?" Yusuke asked, his jaw dropping open at the sight of the cars. 

"How're we supposed to fit into _those_?" Kuwabara gaped. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, your chariots await!" Faye exclaimed, "Please make your selection, buckle in and drive up to the starting line in your old-fashioned, '69 Volkswagen Beetle!" 

The crickets were having a field day. **_[Get it, FIELD? Crickets live in FIELDS? Huh? HAHAHAHAHA---okay.]_**

Faye frowned and grabbed a megaphone from a nearby stand and held it up to her mouth. 

"_**GET MOVING!!!**_" They did. The teams were jolted into motion. Yusuke ran over and picked out a chocolate-brown one. 

"YAY!" Arashi exclaimed, "OUR CAR IS MADE OF CHOCOLATE!" Everyone peered at it for a second. 

"Hn. Hurry up," Hiei snapped. He was already inside, "Get in the cockroach." 

"It's called a BEETLE, Hiei!" Arashi said, as she moved closer to the car. 

"Hn. What do I care. Just get in." They obeyed. 

"Why does Kozu get to sit next to Hiei?" Arashi moaned from her place between Niyali and Yusuke. 

"Because she won't try to strangle him," Yusuke told her. 

"I don't strangle him! I _huggle_!" 

"Same thing." 

"It is NOT!" Arashi's eyes filled with tears, "You hate me! WAAAAAAAAAAH!" 

"Don't think about polar bears," Niyali mumbled. Arashi abruptly stopped crying and looked thoughtful. 

"Hm...polar bears...._polar_ bears...POLAR bears! Polar bears..." 

Kuwabara looked at Niyali. "Is she _really_ unconscious?" 

Hiei's Jagan flashed for a moment. "Yes. Out cold." 

Niyali mumbled something in her sleep. Everyone (except Arashi, who was still muttering "Polar bears...") bent closer to hear. 

"Stupid... fire... thing... stop burning..." Hiei looked insulted. 

"Even in her sleep, she's still not getting along with him..." Yusuke mumbled. 

"Racers, start your engines!" Faye shouted into the megaphone. A total of two people did successfully. 

"Oh, I forgot, some of you don't know HOW! Just turn the little key to the left or right, I'm not sure which, and it _should_ turn on!" A few more cars started. One blew up. 

"Whoops! I know ONE team that won't make it to the finish line! The rest of you: On your mark..." 

"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?" Kuwabara asked nervously. 

"It can't be too hard," Kurama replied. "After all, I have driven a Volkswagon before." 

"Get set..." 

"Was it a Beetle?" 

"No, It was an SUV thing..." 

"But Beetles and SUV's have absolutely _nothing_ in common!" 

"GO!" 

***  
**_There was an author's note here, but I had to remove it, and I need something here to work with the time change and everything, so...ah, well, I guess this bad little interlude is what you get. You could have been laughing at the party, but noooo...stupid rules._**  
*** 

"This isn't so bad," Kuwabara said, as they raced down the...track. He immediately swallowed his words as they narrowly avoided hitting a tree. 

"Oh, come on," Kurama said, "I'm not _that_ bad." 

There was a silence. "Oh, come on people, we're in the lead so I can't be that bad." 

A car passed them. Kurama frowned. 

"Kitsune, go faster," Hiei said. 

"I can't, there's a speed limit." 

"Kurama, we're not in the city yet! We don't have to obey the rules!" Yusuke said. 

"Oh, well in that case..." The car shot forward, and everyone tried to keep hold of their stomachs. 

Kozu moaned. "I don't feeeeeeeeel good..." 

"Switch places with Hiei so you can throw up out the window. Maybe another team will drive through it or something!" Yusuke suggested. Kozu and Hiei obeyed. 

Sure enough, Kozu threw up a moment later. It hit a car that was attempting to pass them and splattered on their windshield. Their screams of disgust and rage could be heard as they veered off the road, through the barrier, and off the cliff. 

"Wow..." Kuwabara said. "Could you do that again?" 

"And Team Urameshi has successfully disposed of another team! That leaves fourteen still in the running!" Faye said cheerfully through the megaphone. 

"We just might make it!" Kuwabara said. Suddenly, Kurama skidded the car to a stop. 

"What was _THAT_ for?" Yusuke said. 

"Stoplight," Kurama said, pointing upwards. "We entered the City while you were looking out the window." 

The light turned green, and they went through, at a considerably slower speed. 

Ahead of them, a car sped through a red light. As soon as they went through, however, the vehicle pulled over and shut off. 

"And Team Bakusho has been disqualified! That leaves Team Urameshi in the lead, and twelve other teams close behind!" 

"Don't break any rules, Kurama," Yusuke warned. 

"I've never dreamed I'd hear you say that," Kurama said, "But don't worry, I have my license." Their car jerked and pulled over. 

"NO!" Kuwabara yelled. 

Kurama laughed and pointed to an ambulance passing by, sirens blazing. As soon as it was by, he pulled back onto the road, Kuwabara hyperventilating in the passenger's seat. 

"And five teams fall to the passing ambulance! Team Urameshi is still in the lead---they must have a licensed driver!" 

"There's the finish line," Kurama said. He pulled over. 

"What _NOW_?" Yusuke asked. 

A fire truck passed by. Kurama pulled back onto the road. 

A group of people crossed the road, not on the crosswalk. Kurama jerked around them, not bothering to stop. 

"Kurama! Don't you have to stop for them?" 

"Nope! They're jaywalkers!" 

The car pulled over and stopped. 

"What _now_?" Yusuke asked. "A police car?" 

"Um...not exactly...apparently you're supposed to stop for jaywalkers..." 

"Oh, TOO BAD! Team Urameshi has been disqualified only an INCH from the finish line! If they can somehow make it OVER the line WITHOUT leaving their car, I think they can still win!" 

"Um... everybody, JERK FORWARD!" Yusuke yelled. Everybody thrust forward sharply, causing the car to scoot forward a millimeter or two. Niyali's head bumped against the window. 

"Maybe putting her there was a bad idea," Arashi said, as she jerked forward again. 

"And they have CROSSED the finish line! They can get out of the car now!" 

They did. 

*** 

"And...Team Rose is out. Erg," Faye sighed, "That makes all the teams except Team Urameshi out of the tournament...we can't have that, now CAN we? So here's what we'll do! Choose a runner from your car, have them run to the starting line, and then run BACKWARDS to the finish line! On your mark...get set...GO!" She took the microphone down from her mouth and tucked it under her elbow as she scribble something down on a small notepad. 

"Note to self...no more car races."

*** 

Eventually, the elimination was over, and eight teams were ready to compete in the tournament. However, seeing as it was three in the morning, all most of them wanted to do was get to bed and sleep. So, Faye gave them the keys to their rooms and sent them off to the hotel. 

Team Urameshi's room consisted of a kitchen, three bathrooms, two sleeping rooms (each with four beds) and a main room thing. Small and cozy. Larger than the Dark Tournament, but smaller then they would've probably liked. Ah, well, too bad for them. 

*** 

The next morning dawned bright and early. Too early. They were required to go to an informative meeting about the first round of the Tournament. The girls moaned and whined about having to get up. 

"Do we have to go?" Arashi whined, "Those meetings are no fun!" 

"YEAH!" Kozu agreed, "Why can't we stay here?" Niyali, who was half-awake, nodded. 

"Please?" she asked, in her tired voice, "Let us stay and sleep?" The boys exchanged glances. 

"No way," Hiei said. Arashi's eyes filled with tears. 

"You hate us...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kozu joined in the crying. Niyali went back to sleep. 

"All right, all right," Yusuke said, "You can stay." 

"NO WAY!" Hiei growled, "This is just an act, detective!" 

"Hiei, how much trouble can they get into?" Kurama asked. 

"Too much!" 

"We should only be gone an hour," Yusuke told them, "Don't get into trouble while we're gone." 

"Ok!" Arashi and Kozu said, their hands behind their backs. 

"Uncross your fingers," Hiei snapped. 

"Ok..." 

"Have fun," Kuwabara told them, as the boys left. 

"We'll try," Kozu said. The door shut behind them. 

"We'll try very hard," Arashi said, an evil grin spreading across her face. Niyali sat up. 

"Did they buy it?" 

"Yep. Always do," Kozu said, proudly, "Let's go play in the kitchen!" 

*** 

The rules were, apparently, simple. The first round would consist of matches determined by the captains of each team. If you stayed down or out of the ring for ten seconds, you lost. You could not fight again once you had lost. But for some reason, those three simple statements were elaborated on many times, such as examples and nitty-gritty details that no-one cared about. This was going to take longer than an hour. 

*** 

"More blue food coloring!" Arashi exclaimed, "Now what can we do with all this blueness?" 

*****__**

All right, there's chapter three! Now, in honor of chapter threeness, we're--oh, wait, it's I'm now, because Arashi can't be in the author note because of ff.net's new rules, so...I guess I'm going to give you a spoiler. It used to be Arashi's job...I miss having her in the author's note...T_T 

At long, long last the tournament is TRULY underway! After we find out what Arashi, Kozu, and Niyali do with the blue food coloring, the tournament begins! The lazyness of five certain people cause the first match to be two on two, winner takes all. Question is, which four people are fighting? 

**Who knows? I'll bet you'll find out if you hit the little button that forwards you to the next chapter... **


	4. Seeing Double

**_Hello--argh, the author notes are so LAME without Arashi...ah, well, not much to say, except for this:   
:words like this: are thoughts, k? Okay! All right, let's continue. _**

***

Disclaimer: We don't own the characters of Sapphire, Aries, Han or Hin. 

***

Chapter Four: Seeing Double 

***

  
***  
_Death Isle Hotel_  
***

"That was utterly pointless," Hiei said, as he and the other males of Team Urameshi ascended the stairs towards their hotel room, "Half of that stuff we knew already." 

"Yes, they did drag on a bit," Kurama admitted. 

"A _bit_?" Yusuke asked, "You call an hour a _bit_?" Kurama shrugged. 

"All I can say is that tomorrow can't come soon enough," Kuwabara exclaimed. Hiei smirked. 

"Why, so you can embarass yourself on a public scale again?" 

"Shut up shrimpy." 

"Hn. I know I'm in it for the practice." In a swift motion, he had pulled his katana out and whipped it through the air, nicking the corner of Kuwabara's sleeve in the process, before sliding it back into its sheath as he finished his sentence, "It's been a while since my katana has tasted blood." Kuwabara's eyes grew wide. 

"You could take somebody's eye out with that thing if you're not careful," said a voice. They looked up to see a girl leaning against the wall of the hallway, near a door with the label "10A". 

Her hair was long and black with furious red highlights, her eyes dark and violet. She was a bit pale, and seemed about Kurama's height, wearing tight black rip pants with a black long sleeve shirt that had rips at the shoulders, allowing them to see a tattoo of a rose on her right shoulder. The shirt didn't go past her belly button, so her flat stomach was clearly visible, as well as the black halter top underneath the original. Her feet were clad in black combat boots. 

"I am Aries Taylor," she announced, in a voice remarkably like Hiei's: slightly cold, emotionless, perfectly pronounced, "Captain of Team Rose. You would be...?" 

"Yusuke Urameshi," Yusuke said proudly, "Captain of Team Urameshi." Her lips curved into a smirk. 

"Team Urameshi," she commented, "I believe you're our first opponent." 

"Really," Kurama stated. She turned her eyes to him and looked him up and down. 

"Yes. You are Kurama, I presume?" He nodded, never taking his eyes off her face. 

"Fascinating." She turned back to Yusuke, "You came from the meeting?" At his nod, she continued, "We only sent one of our team. She's still down there, I believe. One of our other members was so enthusiastic about meeting our opponents that she went to visit. Since she hasn't come back, I'm guessing she's in your room." 

"WAS in their room," another person commented. The new arrival was also female, and everything about her seemed blue. With the exception of three dolphin earrings in each ear (and one dolphin ring on her left hand), she was blue: blue nails, blue lips, ice blue eyes, and blue hair. Her shirt was the color of dark sky, and her pants were raven blue. She smiled at Team Urameshi. 

"Sapphire's the name," she said, cheerfully, "You're Team Urameshi?" She continued without waiting for an answer, "I was just down visiting with the rest of your team. Those girls sure are excited and polite! They were in the middle of something, but they welcomed me and made me feel right at home. I've learned a lot," she said, with a small glint in her eye. 

"How much did they tell you?" Kuwabara asked, shocked. 

"Oh, nonononono," she said, quickly, "I wasn't scooping for information. I just wanted to make some new friends!" Aries snorted. 

"Sapphire, you know this tournament is not about making friends. We're here to win. Relationships will only slow us down." 

"Oh, come on," Sapphire said, tossing her hair back with a laugh, "What's the fun in just fighting? It's interesting to meet new people!" Aries sighed and rolled her eyes. 

"Whatever. Come on, now, Hin should be getting back any minute with our information. Of course, Han will have gotten it from her already." 

"Of course," Sapphire said. Aries turned back to Team Urameshi. 

"We'll be seeing you at the stadium," she said, and went into room 10A. Sapphire waited until the door closed before whispering to them, "Don't mind her. She's just...private. She's like that to everybody." 

"SAPPHIRE!" 

"Coming...see you guys tomorrow!" Sapphire turned and went into the room herself. 

"So that's Team Rose?" Kuwabara asked, "They don't seem very powerful to me." 

"Appearances can be misleading," Kurama told him, as they continued down the hall, "You wouldn't believe Hiei can use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame just by looking at him, would you?" 

"Don't comment on my stature." 

"Well, no..." Kuwabara said, wary of Hiei. 

"Exactly." They reached their room. Yusuke pulled his key card out of his pocket and slipped it into the slot. The light turned green and he pushed the door open. 

Instantly, sound reached their ears; sounds of three excited little girls screaming at the top of their lungs. 

"IT'S BLUE! IT'S BLUE! IT'SBLUEIT'SBLUEIT'SBLUE!!!!" 

"What's blue?" Yusuke asked, grabbing Kozu as she zoomed by, "What are you yelling about?" 

"IT'S BLUE!!! BLUEBLUEBLUEBLUEBLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!" Kuwabara was the first one to see what she was talking about. 

"OH MY GAWD NIYALI WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR????!!!!!!!!?????" 

***  
_Much later...as in the next morning later...   
Death Isle Stadium_   
***

"Look at all the demons!" Niyali said, turning around in a slow circle, "I've never seen so many!" 

"You've never fought in a tournament before, have you?" Kurama asked her. She shook her head. 

"First time." She continued staring at all the demons, half-humans, and humans that filled the stands, clearly fascinated. 

The stadium was open-aired, rather like the stadium that the first three rounds of the Dark Tournament had been fought on. In fact, it seemed to be an exact replica. 

Kurama and Niyali were waiting on the left side of the ring; the seven members of Team Rose were on the other side. 

"The others had better get here soon," Niyali commented, "Or else we're going to die." She and Kurama were the only members of Team Urameshi at the stadium; the rest were probably back at the hotel sleeping. 

"We're not going to die," Kurama told her, "We can stall until they get here, and if all else fails, I'll act as Captain and work something out with the other team. We won't die." 

"Ok! Can I go talk to the other team?" 

"Sure." 

"YAAAAAY!" Kurama watched as Niyali raced around the ring, heading towards Team Rose. Her hair flew out behind her, her vibrant blue streaks perfectly spaced. They wouldn't be coming out for a long time. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first round of the Ohsukah Tournament! My name is Faye, and I'll be your announcer for this round!" Now that it was light, they were able to see what Faye looked like. Her blood red ponytail was bouncing with excitement, and her pink-amber eyes were glistening with anticipation. She was pale, with small clear fairy wings protruding from her back, her bangs floating up like antenea. She wore an emerald green tube top, a see-through whiteish jacket, a silver sash around her waist, black hot pants, and black calf-high heeled boots. 

Niyali came running back almost as fast as she had gone. 

"Now what?" she moaned, "The Tournament's starting!" 

"Relax," Kurama told her, "They'll be here soon." _:I hope...:_

***  
_Death Isle Hotel_  
***

Kuwabara ambled slowly into the main room, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He hadn't slept that well in a while...it felt good...but for some reason, he hadn't been able to go back to sleep. There was just this nagging feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere, doing something. But what? Oh well, he'd figure it out eventually. 

The rooms were dark; the curtains were over the windows. He pulled them back, yawning, and blinked as the room was flooded with sunlight. Pretty bright for so early...oh, that was why, it was almost 10:30. Hm. Time for breakfast. 

As he was fiddling with pots and pans and trying to make something decent, the door to the boys room opened and Yusuke came out, stumbling sleepily. 

"G'mornin'," he mumbled, taking a seat at the table. 

"Good morning." 

"Wha' time is it?" 

"Ten thirty." 

"Tha's nice...wait TEN THIRTY?" 

"Mm-hmm. What do you want for break--" 

"No TIME for breakfast! We're supposed to be at the stadium right now!" 

Kuwabara dropped the pot he was carrying, spilling water all over the floor. 

_"What?"_

"We were supposed to be there half an hour ago!" Yusuke yelled. 

"We were?" 

"YES! Go wake up the girls while I get Hiei up!" Kuwabara hurried to comply. He headed into the girls room and shook Arashi. 

"Hey, Arashi, get up." Arashi moaned. 

"NOW." She rolled over, ignoring him. 

"NOW!! THE TOURNAMENT'S ALREADY STARTED AND WE'RE LATE! GET UP!" This woke Kozu up, but not Arashi. 

"What's going on?" she asked, sitting up in bed. 

"The match's already started and we're late!" Kuwabara told her. Her eyes widened and she slipped out of bed and into the girls bathroom. Kuwabara went back to attempting to get Arashi up. He ripped the blankets off of her and took her pillow away. Still she slept on. Kozu came out of the bathroom, now fully dressed and awake, and watched with amusement. 

"Baka," Hiei said, coming into the room, "Like this. GET UP NOW." 

"Yes Hiei!" Arashi leapt out of bed and into the girls bathroom herself. Kuwabara turned to Hiei. 

"How--" 

"Hn. Where's the Spirit?" Kuwabara only blinked. 

"Who?" 

"It's ok, Kurama and Niyali are at the stadium," Yusuke said, coming into the room, "Apparently, they've been stalling for the past half hour. The announcer's starting to get annoyed." 

***  
_Death Isle Stadium_  
*** 

"No more questions," Faye told Niyali sternly, "Get back to your team, we have to start." 

"But--" 

"NOW." Niyali stuck her tongue out at her before heading back to Kurama, shaking her head slightly. His frown deepened. This was not good. 

"Would both teams please come to the middle of the ring," Faye announced. They did so. 

The picture this painted seemed extremely off. Seven standing before two, however defiant the two looked, there was no excuse. How much damage could a Fox Spirit and---whatever Niyali was---a _child_, it seemed, do against a complete line-up of seven powerful-looking adults? 

They were about to find out. 

"Captains, please discuss your terms!" Aries stepped forward, as did Kurama. She raised an eyebrow. 

"You're not the Captain." 

"In case of the Captain's abscene, a replacement may be chosen," Kurama reminded her, "As Yusuke is not here right now I would be happy to take his place in determining the rules of this match." She smiled her cold smile again, and there was a hint of irony. 

"So the Captain doesn't even bother showing up to a match that he knows he will lose. Pitiful." 

"He will be here," Niyali spoke up, "Him and the rest. They're coming, and you'll be sorry when they get here." Aries looked down at her. 

"Right," she said, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Back to business." She turned back to Kurama. "I propose simple one-on-one matches. First team to win four, or for us, two, wins." 

"Two on two," Kurama said, "Niyali and me against any two members of your choosing. Winner take all. In the event of a draw, both teams may choose any members to fight the remainder of the battles one-on-one, first team to three victories wins." 

"So, if our two beat you two, then we win?" He nodded. 

"That is correct." 

"But if we don't beat you--which is highly unlikely--and you don't beat us--which is likely--then we resort to one-on-ones, first team to win three wins." 

"Exactly." She smirked. 

"Agreed." 

"And the order is decided!" Faye exclaimed, "A two-on-two, winner takes all match! It's obvious who's going to be fighting for Team Urameshi, but what about Team Rose?" Aries' grin grew wider. 

"Unfortunately for you, we happen to have the best people for fighting two-on-two. May the Gods have mercy on your souls." She turned and walked out of the ring, followed by Sapphire and two other members of their team. There were now only five people in the ring: Kurama, Niyali, Faye, and their identical opponents. 

They were dressed identically; white pants, white shirt, black boots, black gloves. One had a hoop earring in their left ear, the other wore theirs in their right. Their pale blond hair hung to their shoulders, and their eyes were blue, flashing red as Kurama and Niyali watched. 

"Well," Faye said, "Looks like we've got the fighting twins, Han and Hin, for Team Rose! I can't exactly tell which is which, but--" 

"I am Hin," said the one with the left hoop earring, her voice unmistakably female, "He is Han. We are half and half." 

"We fight to win," Han said, drawing a sword from a sheath by his side, as Hin strung a bow that had been slung across her back, "I suggest you do the same. Be warned; we will not go easy on you." 

"Same here," Niyali told him, "How 'bout less talk and more fight so we can see what you can do?" He looked down at her and smiled. 

"Gladly, little one. Gladly." 

***  
_Death Isle: Somewhere Between the Hotel and the Stadium_  
*** 

"Remind me WHY we slept so late again?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke as they ran towards the stadium. Kozu and Hiei, the fastest of the group, were far ahead of them, probably already there. 

"Who knows, just keep running!" 

***  
_Death Isle Stadium_  
***

"All fighters take your beginning stances---and BEGIN!" 

"We'll give you one minute--" Hin started. 

"--to come up with a plan." Han finished. "Because without one--" 

"--there is no way you can win. Your minute--" 

"--starts now." Kurama squatted down so he was about Niyali's height and whispered to her. 

"You take one, and I'll take the other. If we keep them away from each other, it should be easier." 

"I guess---" Niyali cast a worried glance at the twins, who were watching them cooly, "But they're twins. And something about them doesn't seem quite-- human." 

"They're probably demons. I wouldn't be surprised if they had some special ability that involves each other--which is why we must keep them distracted." 

"Distracted?" 

"Away from each other." 

"Ah. I--which one do you want?" 

"You should take Hin. With her arrows and your smaller size, you should be able to dodge them easily." 

"Thanks a lot." 

"I mean it." 

"I know." 

"Your minute--" Hin announced. 

"--is over," Han finished. "It is time--" 

"--to lose." 

***

**_Just a quick note: _**~O.O~**_ is a change of battle. For example, if we were focusing on Han and Kurama,_** ~O.O~**_ would mean we switched to Hin and Niyali. Not that hard, right? Continue._**

*** 

"We'll see about that!" In the blink of an eye, Niyali had rushed Hin, her fist catching the twin at the jaw. Hin went down; Han's eyes widened in shock and he charged Niyali. But Kurama was in his way, keeping Han from reaching the girls. 

"Get out of the way!" Han growled, and brought his sword up and down. Kurama leapt to the side; the sword connected with the ring, slicing through some of the stone. 

~O.O~ 

"ARROWS OF AGONY!" Hin had leapt into the air and fired several arrows towards Niyali, each one burning with a white energy. Niyali skipped energetically to the side. 

"Ha! You missed--me?!" The arrows had halted in mid-air, swirled around, and headed for her again. Her eyes widened and she gave a little squeak before diving out of the way again. Once more, the arrows zoomed past, halted, turned sharply, and headed for her again. 

"Fun little things, aren't they?" Hin said, smiling, "Those things can follow you forever until they either connect or you dispose of them. I wouldn't recommend either but--" Here she shrugged. "--it's your choice." 

~O.O~

"SWORDS OF SPIRIT!" Instead of arrows, Han had created several mini swords, blazing with the same white fire as the arrows, to follow Kurama around. 

"ROSE WHIP!" The familiar thorny whip was in his hand once more. Leaping into the air, Kurama waited for the swords to near him before swinging his whip in an arc. It connected with many of the blades, cutting them in half (they promptly exploded) and deflecting two into each other. With all the swords disposed of, he dropped back onto the ring. Han was smiling. 

"Wonderful," he said, "Now wait for the aftereffects." 

"What--" Kurama was cut off as a strong shock traveled up the whip to his arm. He dropped it with a strangled cry; his arm burning and tingling from the shock. Han was laughing. 

"So you see," he said, "You'll have to come up with another way to destroy them...the next shock may be stronger." Kurama's eyes narrowed. 

"NIYALI!" he called, not turning away from Han, "Don't touch the arrows!" 

"How else am I--" 

"Trust me! If they're twins, then something about their attacks MUST be similar! DO NOT TOUCH THE ARROWS!" 

"But--" 

"DON'T!" 

~O.O~ 

Hin was laughing now. 

"It appears he's figured out the secret to our attack," she said, "If you touch them, or they touch anything you're touching, you'll receive quite a nasty shock. That's why I don't recommend it." 

"Well, this isn't good!" Faye exclaimed, "With Niyali being stalked by killer arrows and Kurama suffering from the side effects, it looks like Han and Hin have the upper hand! But things could turn around, folks, keep watching!" 

_:Ok,:_ Niyali thought,_ :Can't touch the arrows, can't deflect the arrows...that rules out my stick...what _can_ I do?:_

"You'd better think of something fast," Hin called, "I imagine you're getting tired of running." 

"SHUT YOUR FACE!" Niyali yelled at her, and ran straight for the edge of the ring, leaping off and landing face first on the ground. 

"That's got to hurt!" Faye exclaimed, "I think she was aiming for the wall-- but she's out of the ring, I'll take a ten count! One--" The arrows, however, continued on their straight path, running straight into the wall and exploding. Several demons sitting right there were caught in the explosion and grew wings...but since demons would NOT go to Heaven that's technically not accurate. 

Niyali sat up, coughing grass and dirt out of her mouth. 

"Five! Six!" Upon hearing Faye's count, Niyali backflipped, landing gracefully in the ring-- 

Only to be charged by Han. 

~O.O~ 

Kurama blinked. He'd thought Han was right in front of him, but suddenly he disappeared! Looking around, Kurama saw Han heading straight for Niyali. 

He also saw where Hin was and what she was doing. 

"Niyali, look out! It's a--" Niyali leapt to the side, only to run right into one of Hin's arrows. Her tortured scream filled the stadium as white fire coursed from the arrow into her body, shocking her and filling her body with pain. 

"--trap," Kurama finished. Picking up his rose and turning it back into a whip, he rushed to Niyali's aid. 

***  
_Outside the Stadium_  
***

"What do you MEAN, we can't go in?" Yusuke demanded of the guard, "We're part of the team!" 

"Sorry," the large demon said, "The match has already started. You can't go in this way." 

"I don't think you understand," Arashi told him, "We. Are. Part. Of. Team. Urameshi." 

"I. Know. And. You. Are. Not. Getting. In." 

"Perhaps you don't get our point," Hiei told him, "Let us in NOW and no one will suffer. Mainly, you." The guard sweated just a little bit. 

"Sorry, but nobody gets in without permission after the match has started." 

"Come on," Yusuke said, steering the angry fire demon away from the guard, "Let's go sit somewhere and see if we can come up with an idea." 

***_  
Inside the Stadium_  
***

Hin saw Kurama coming to help. They couldn't have interference now; they were so close to eliminating Niyali. Frowning, she went over to him. 

"You are not going to interfere," she told him, sternly, and locked eyes. He slowed down, finally coming to a stop, unable to break the connection between them. Hin mentally smiled; soon he would be under her control, and then-- 

"NO!" Something rammed into her, knocking her to the ground. A small wetness dripped onto Hin's arm, and she looked up to see Niyali over her; Hin's arrow still lodged in her shoulder, but she was holding Hin down with a firmness no one would believe such a little thing had. Hin locked eyes with her instead, boring her will into the little girl, and in Niyali's head, she heard someone say quietly, _:Duty of The Sisterhood:_. Before she had time to register what had happened, somebody lifted her off Hin by the scruff of her neck. She twisted around in the air to see--Kurama?!? 

*** 

**_All right...spoilerness! _**

Next time! The secret behind Kurama's odd behavior is revealed as the kitsune tried to kill his own teammate! And what's up with the whole 'Duty of the Sisterhood' thing? More then Hin intended! The battle draws to a close with the rest of Team Urameshi still stuck outside, what's going to happen next? Find out next time on 

**And Arashi pops up out of nowhere yelling, "YUYUHAKUSHO!" ^_^ **


	5. Acts of Sisterly Love

**_Lalala...nothing to say...skip ahead to the chapter or FACE MY WRATH! _**

***  
Disclaimer: We don't own Kitsune, Inuyasha, Yamiko, or Inumiko.   
***

  
***  
Chapter Five: Acts of Sisterly Love  
*** 

***_  
Outside the Stadium_  
***

Hiei frowned. Sighing in frustration, he opened his eyes, his Jagan closing on his forehead. 

"So?" Kuwabara prompted, "What's up?" 

"I can't reach the kitsune," Hiei said, in response. 

"WHAT?" "What do you mean?" 

"It's like his mind is gone--all that remains is a big empty space." 

"GAH!" 

"What about Niyali?" Kozu and Arashi asked simultaneously. 

"What about her?" Arashi frowned. 

"How can you be so indifferent?" He just looked at her. 

"FINE!" Kozu spat, "Arashi and I're going to watch the fight on the big screen on the side of the stadium. Come get us when you've come up with a way to get us in!" She grabbed Arashi and dragged her off into the crowd. Because they were small, the two of them were able to weave their way through the crowd with ease, finally appearing right at the front of the screen. They were so close now, they could not only hear the voices from the screen but they could also hear them from inside. 

***_  
Inside the Stadium  
_***

"Kurama, please! Snap out of it!" Niyali's pleas had no effect on the kitsune. Unblinking, emotionless green eyes bored into her as he advanced, whip in hand. Han and Hin watched from the edge of the ring with amusement. 

"Service of the Willing is a wonderful technique," Han said, proudly, "Now that Kurama is under my control, I can make him do anything." 

"Mm." 

"Did you use Duty of the Sisterhood?" 

"Yes. Niyali can now do nothing to harm me. I could probably make her do some things as well." Niyali's ears pricked up. 

_:What? They must be...some sort of...mind-controlling creatures!:_

"So why don't you?" Han asked Hin. 

"Because this is so much more interesting." 

"Indeed, sister, indeed." Han turned back to watching, but Hin was not so sure. Earlier, when Kurama had punched Niyali in the face, Hin had felt a small, unpleasant tingle in more or less the same place--but maybe that was something else. 

Either that, or Duty of the Sisterhood had done more than she'd intended. 

~O.O~

She was still bleeding from Hin's arrow. Her left eye was swelling shut, she could barely see out of it.

And Kurama was really trying to kill her. 

Yanking a twig out of her hair, it only took a small tweak of energy to turn it into a long and stout stick. With this, she was able to deflect most of his attacks. The rest she dodged. 

Except for one. The whip slashed across her left arm, wrapping around to form a coiling series of deep cuts. 

Faye flinched. Han smiled. Hin stared. Arashi and Kozu clutched each other, staring at the screen, eyes wide. Niyali bit her lip, drawing blood, and seized Kurama's whip with both hands, ignoring the thorns that were pricking into her arm and now into her hands, and jerked. The whip flew out of Kurama's hand and backlashed against Niyali, snagging against the loose clothing and catching. Kurama himself was jerked to the ground. 

"What an amazing turnaround!" Faye exclaimed, "Niyali's somehow managed to turn the tables on Kurama; now she's got his weapon! But he's getting back up, what will his next move be?" 

"There won't BE a next move," Niyali said, frowning. 

"Oh, so now Niyali's planning to attack her own partner! Keep watching, people, I've got a feeling we're about to see what kind of punch the little girl packs!" Niyali bent down to pick up her stick that had fallen to the ground. As she did so, the whip around her arm coiled more, the thorns biting deeper and embedding in her flesh. Niyali gave a scream of pain before there was a flash of green light that blinded the viewers, the announcer, the opponents. Even those sitting outside saw the flash. When it ended, there was Niyali, standing up, the stick in her hand. 

But the stick was different. Instead of being long, it was shorter. Still sturdy, but spaced evenly through it were holes. And as the confused viewers watched, Niyali lifted it to her lips and blew. 

The note that emerged was sweet, pure, a note filled with a power that called all those who heard it to listen. It was followed by several more of its kind, various tones and pitches. The notes lingered in the air around them before taking effect. 

Kurama froze. He did not twitch, he did not move. It was as if he'd been turned to stone. 

Niyali put the flute down, and looked over at him. 

"I'm sorry," she murmued, "I didn't want to do that." 

"What?" Han stared, "NO! That can't be!" 

"Face it, Han, she's found a way around your mind control," Hin told him. 

"But he's standing up! Technically he can't be counted out if he's _standing_!" 

"That's life." Han glanced over at Hin. His eyes grew slightly wide. 

"Hin--your arm--" Hin glanced down at her arm and her eyes widened as well. For twirling up her arm was a thin, coiling cut. Almost exactly like Niyali's. 

Oh dear. 

Niyali turned to them at that moment and saw what had happened. An idea clicked in her mind. 

_:Hin,:_ she said, daring to hope, _:As an act of sisterly love, please punch your brother in the face._: 

"OW! Hin, what was that for?" 

"I don't know! I didn't do anything!" 

_:Hin, please do it again.:_

"OW!" 

"I'm sorry! I don't know what come over me! I--" Hin turned to Niyali. "-you-" 

"Duty of the Sisterhood works both ways," Niyali spat, "You get hurt, I get hurt. I get hurt you get hurt. So, if I tell you to punch your brother, you've got no choice but to do it. Punch him!" 

"OW!" 

"Punch him again!" 

"OW!" 

"Now if one of you doesn't go and tell Faye that this is a draw, I'll make Hin do it again." Han glared at the little girl before going over to do so. A minute later, Faye's disappointed voice announced the battle to be a draw. Han came angrily back. 

"Now release Kurama from whatever it is you did to him." 

"I can't." 

"Punch him." 

"OW! No, listen! The only way he can be freed is if he does it himself or he's knocked unconscious!" Niyali shrugged. 

"Ok then, Hin, knock 'im unconscious. GENTLY. And when you're done with that, you can do the same to your brother." Hin had no choice but to do so. Niyali blew a note on her flute, releasing the spell upon Kurama, and dragged him out of the ring. Hin, glaring, did the same thing with Han. 

***  
_Outside_  
***

Arashi and Kozu breathed a collective sigh when they saw the fight was over. 

"I knew Niyali would pull through," Kozu said, proudly. 

"YEAH!" Arashi agreed, "Let's go see if they've figured out a plan yet!" The two of them left the screen and headed back over to the boys. They seemed to be in an argument. 

"Come ON, Hiei, at least try!" Yusuke was saying. 

"Hn."

"There's no other way for us to get in!" Kuwabara protested. 

"Hn." 

"If you don't," Arashi said, having no idea what the conversation was about, "I'LL HUGGLE YOU!" 

"Hn. You do that anyway." 

"If you do, I'll do it less." 

"Fine. Do you even know what we're talking about?" 

"NO! But I trust your judgement." She glanced at Yusuke and Kuwabara. "Relatively." Hiei opened his Jagan once again, this time to make contact with Niyali. He did NOT want to do this, but they really had no choice. 

_:Spirit.: _

:You guys are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay late! The first battle's already over! What kept you, couldn't find your katana?: 

:Hn. For your information, we have been here through most of the battle. The stupid guard won't let us in.: 

:Oooooooooooh, so why don't you just chop 'im up into itty-bitty pieces with your wonderful katana?: 

:What I do is none of your business. Just get out here and get us in.: 

:Do I hear a please with that?: 

:No.: 

:Then I guess you'll just have to stay out there...Kurama and I can handle it all by ourselves.: 

:I can tell when you're lying.: 

:Good for you, I can tell when you're being stupid. That's always.: 

:I think you'd know by now that that is Kuwabaka's trait, not mine.: 

:Ah.: 

:So will you come get us in?: 

:Not if you don't say pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease.: She sang. His frown deepened. 

_:I don't use that word.: _

:Then no entry for you and the others.: His eyes narrowed. _ :Please.: _

:Please whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?: 

:Please come let us in.: 

:What'd you say? I can't heeeeeeeeeeeear yooooooooooooooooooooooooouuuuu...: 

"JUST PLEASE COME GET US ALREADY, DAMMIT!" Everybody turned to him, eyes wide with surprise. 

"Hiei, profanity!" Arashi promptly whapped him on the head. He ignored her. 

_:That's better,:_ said Niyali's smug voice in his head. Hiei closed his Jagan and glared at everybody. 

"I am never doing that again." 

"You don't have to," Yusuke said, "Honestly, hearing you say 'please'..." He shut up when Hiei glared at him. 

"So?" Kozu prompted, "What'd she say?" 

"She's coming." 

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She and Arashi raced over to the guard, and began jumping up and down, trying to get a sight of Niyali. 

"What are you _doing_?" he asked. 

"We're waiting for Niyali!" Arashi shrieked, "She's going to come get us in!" 

"Haha, tell me something," he said, to her, "How much sugar have you had today?" 

"Not enough!" Arashi replied, happily, still bouncing up and down. 

"Why?" Yusuke asked. He shrugged. 

"It's about TIME the five of you showed up," said a tired voice, "What, were you just taking your peaceful time while we were dying?" There was Niyali, a tired but teasing smile on her face, blood dripping from her shoulder, pouring from her arm. Arashi and Kozu let out wild shrieks, vaulted over the barrier and the guard and over to her. 

"WHEEEEEE! HINIAYLI!" Arashi said, hyperly. 

"We saw you on the BIG screen!" Kozu said, stretching her arms out for emphasis. 

"Aw, I wanted to see myself on the big screen..." 

"We put a tape in back at the hotel, so we can watch the WHOLE BATTLE again when we get back!" Arashi exclaimed. 

"YAY!" 

"What happened to YOU?" Kuwabara asked, his mouth dropping open. 

"I was in a fight, duh." 

"Is that Kurama's whip?" Yusuke asked, staring at the whip coiled around her arm. 

"Maybe, maybe not! Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come? I didn't drag myself all the way out here for nothing." 

"Hold it," the guard said, "They can't just go with you." Niyali turned to him. 

"Why not?" She pouted and put on her "pathetic" look, "I'm just a poor, tired little girl who nearly got killed by her own partner a moment ago. And they are the rest of my team. And you're not going to let them come in because why?" 

"...they weren't here at the beginning..." 

"Are you going to argue with a bleeding girl? Because in case you haven't noticed I'm bleeding right now and I am not in a good mood. Sugar would fix that," she added, hopefully. 

"Sorry," Arashi said, "I ate my last piece." 

"Awwwwww..." 

"Team Urameeeeshiiii, we need your next fiiighter!" Faye half-sang, her voice coming over the intercom, "Because in case you've forgotten, the match was a draw, meaning you've got to pick someone for a one-on-one maaatch..." 

"Hey," the guard said, realization on his face, "You're the girl that was on TV a minute ago!" 

"Uh," Niyali looked confused, "Sure, I can go with that." 

"Oh, well, in that case, I can't argue with someone who was on TV. Go ahead in," he told the rest of the team. They did so. 

"What do you mean, you almost got killed by your teammate?" Kuwabara asked Niyali. 

"Weren't you _watching_?" she asked, incredulously. 

"We were!" Kozu piped, "Me'n'Arashi. The boys were tryin' to think up a plan." 

"Oh. I see you came up with one." 

"Hn." 

"Thanks to HIEI!" Arashi added, giving Hiei a quick huggle, "He's so wonderful..." Hiei glowered at her. 

"Shut up." 

"Ok." 

***_  
Stadium: Team Rose_  
***

"I can't believe that little _child_ outwitted two of our best fighters!" Aries said, in disbelief, "Not to mention her own team mate!" 

"Relax," Yamiko said, placing a hand on Aries' shoulder, "We still have a chance to win." 

"I know _that_, but this is about our reputation as a team! We _ can't_ let them win!" Yamiko frowned. Over-reaction was not like their captain. Obviously this was important to her. 

Not that she blamed her. Yamiko, Yamiko Honounoko being her full name, had her own reasons for coming to this tournament. Her green-blue eyes, both colors being in each, blurred together as she became lost in thought, thoughts and memories. 

"Well?" 

"What? Well what, Inumiko?" Yamiko was jolted out of her train of thought and turned to the team's sixth member, Inumiko Aiko Tsuchikin. A Dog Demon Miko, Inumiko was truly a stunning being to look at. She wore black slacks that came down past her waist and flared at the bottom over her black leather combat boots. Her black trench coat hung almost touching the ground. Her silver hair, bound back in a ponytail with a black leather band, fell past her waist, and her fuchsia eyes, specked with gold, were staring past them to the ring. 

"You know," she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her left ear, carefully avoiding the four gold hoop earrings that were there (she had three in her right), "Who's going to fight next? You know that since we didn't win the draw, we have to fight one-on-one." There was a silence. 

"What about Kitsune?" Sapphire suggested. 

"If we can tear her away from her boyfriend," Aries said. They all turned to look at Kitsune. The half demon's long, silver gold and light pink hair cascaded down her back, her light pink dog ears tilted back as she looked up into the first row of seats, making smalltalk with her 'boyfriend.' Her boyfriend was a hanyou, with long white hair, fangs, gold eyes, and doggie ears. You might know him as Inuyasha. What is Inuyasha doing in Makai, you may ask? Well, you can ask, but you probably won't get an answer because we have no idea! Back to the story. 

"Kitsune!" Yamiko called, "Get over here!" Kistune turned her golden eyes to her. 

"Why?" she called back, "I'm talking here!" 

"It's your turn!" 

"Oh, yay! Fun! Cheer for me, Inuyasha!" 

"Feh." Inuyasha replied, "I'll just watch." 

Sapphire looked traumatized. "Inuyasha as a cheerleader...ew ew ew..." Kitsune's ear twitched. 

"Don't make fun of my boyfriend," Kitsune told her, before taking a running leap and landing in the ring, her beautiful kimono setting back around her body. 

"Fighting for Team Rose is Kitsune!" Faye exclaimed, "Now we'd better hope the rest of Team Urameshi gets here soon because since the match was a draw, Kurama and Niyali aren't able to fight anymore!" There was a pause. 

"Team Urameeeeshiiii, we need your next fiiighter!" Faye half-sang, "Because in case you've forgotten, the match was a draw, meaning you've got to pick someone for a one-on-one maaatch..." 

"I bet they don't even show," Aries muttered, her sarcastic mood returning. 

"Hey, where's the little kid who beat the twins?" Yamiko noticed. 

"TEAM URAMESHI! THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO GET ONE OF YOUR MEMBERS INTO THE RING BEFORE I DISQUALIFY YOU!!" A small gust of wind blew across the stadium, and a blur shot out from Team Urameshi's side of the stadium, stopping in the ring. 

"HI! I'm Arashi, and I'll be taking this fight! The rest of my team's on their way, but they're a little...delayed, so I'm going to fight! So, when do we start?" 

***

**_ Still wish Arashi was here...the authors notes are SO BORING without her. IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, FF.NET!! _**

The second battle of the Tournament begins! It's Arashi vs. Kitsune, and both of them seem well-matched. But when Kitsune uses an attack that considerably shortens Arashi's lifespan, the hyper girl may find herself in a tighter pickle then she'd intended...that's all next time, on 

**And Arashi, reading over my shoulder yells YUYUHAKUSHO as she always does because that's her job! **


	6. The Flying Twerp

**_Um, hello, it's Arashi here--Niyali would talk and all, but she's currently in a state of depression and shock. She went to the dentist, found out she has SEVEN possible cavities, and her parents...well...they weren't pleased. To punish her...They took her supply of Halloween candy! Isn't that sad? ((Niyali in the background moans for candy) And she's suffering, so...yeah. Just...go read. _**

***

Disclaimer: We SERIOUSLY own nothing. Niyali doesn't even own her candy anymore. Sugar-depravation is NOT good for an author...nor is it good for the author's best friend! AAAAAH! NIYALI, CALM DOWN!!!

*** 

Chapter Six: The Flying Twerp 

From now on, most things take place on Death Isle. If something doesn't, we'll let you know.

  
  
*** 

"Here we are!" Botan exclaimed, "Death Isle--Home of the Ohsukah Tournament!" 

"Death Isle--it sounds creepy," Keiko said, shivering, "I don't like it." The four girls--Keiko, Botan, Shizuru, and Yukina--had finally found their way to the tournament. Less than a few hours ago, they hadn't even known the boys were fighting in another tournament--but Botan had gotten the information from Koenma and the four of them had come to watch. 

"You're sure this is where they're fighting?" Yukina asked, worridly. Botan nodded. 

"I can't believe that Koenma," Shizuru said, "Sending our boys to another one of these tournaments without even telling us about it." 

"I must admit, Koenma's gone too far this time--not even helping them find the remainder of their team!" Botan said. 

"That must be the stadium up ahead," Keiko said, pointing, "I wonder if it's too late for us to get seats?" 

***_  
Inside the Stadium_  
***

Arashi's sudden entrance seemed to have surprised and confused everyone. Faye stood dumbly for a moment, microphone limp in her hand, before recovering. 

"Well, it looks like we'll have Arashi fighting for Team Urameshi! Fighters, on your mark, get set---BEGIN!" 

"I may as well go first," Kitsune announced, and pulled from her sleeve a fan. Twirling it once, she held it level and charged Arashi. 

"Too simple," Arashi muttered, and summoned her ki. As Kitsune came closer, and brought the razor-sharp fan down, Arashi jumped and went much higher than it seemed her legs should allow, going up, and up, and up. The now airborne girl did a backflip in midair and came to a halt, looked down at her opponent and grinned madly. 

"WOW! It seems that Arashi can fly!" Faye exclaimed, "This probably won't go too well for Kitsune!" 

Kurama, waking up at that exact moment, heard the last remark. 

_:So it was a draw,:_ he thought, standing up, _:Why can't I remember what happened?_: 

"WOAH!" Kuwabara exclaimed, as he and the rest of Team Urameshi entered the stadium, "She can FLY!" 

"She can FLY!" Kozu mimicked, "She can FLY!" 

"Be quiet," Yusuke told her, "Hey, KURAMA!" Kurama turned, saw them, and came over to them. 

"You're late," he told them. 

"Sorry," Yusuke said, putting a hand behind his head and rubbing it sheepishly, "Slept in." 

"That's all right," Kurama reassured him. 

"At least we got here," Hiei muttered. Kurama chose to ignore him and turned to Niyali. 

"What happened to--is that my whip?" Niyali nodded tiredly. She was leaning against Kozu, her arm still bleeding. The blood loss was beginning to affect her. Kurama quickly got down to her height and began uncoiling the whip from her arm. 

"What--how did that happen?" he asked, as he worked, "The last thing I remember was you running into Hin." 

"Han took hold of your brain," Niyali told him, "Controlled you and had you attack me." 

"Oh. How badly did I hurt you?" 

"Not too bad," Niyali assured him, "Just my arm, and I won't be seeing out of my eye for a while, BUT--" here she grinned, "I'll be getting back at you for that." 

"I'll be sure to be careful." 

"He'd better be," Niyali muttered to Kozu, "When we get The Plan underway-oh! I can't wait." 

"Me neither," Kozu said, grinning herself, "Me neither." 

"Hey, Arashi!" Yusuke yelled, "Are you all right up there?" 

"Don't worry about me!" came the cocky response, "I'm just having a wonderful time flying up in the air!" 

"She reminds me of that Jin guy," Kuwabara commented, "He could fly too." 

"Arashi, like Jin?" Kozu and Niyali stared at him before bursting into laughter, "That's a good one!" Kuwabara looked blank. 

"What'd I do?" 

*** 

"HAHA!" Arashi called down to Kitsune, "Can't reach me up here, can you?" 

"HEY YOU LITTLE TWERP!" Arashi looked into the stands to see Inuyasha leaning over the wall and yelling at her, "GET DOWN INTO THE RING AND FIGHT LIKE A DEMON!" Arashi cocked her head and shot over to him, stopping and hovering right in front of his face. 

"And you would be?" she asked pleasantly. 

"Inuyasha and that's MY GIRLFRIEND you're battling!" 

"Inuyasha...dog demon? Oh, EARS!" Arashi began tweaking Inuyasha's ears happily, chanting hyperly, "Tweak tweak tweak tweak tweak..." as she did so. Kitsune's face turned a bright red with anger, and she threw her fan through the air towards Arashi, who was still happily tweaking. 

"ARASHI LOOK OUT!" Yusuke yelled. Arashi turned and saw the fan coming straight towards her. In front of her eyes, the fan shimmered and changed into a whirling blade of boomerang, which caught Arashi across the chest. Arashi gave a scream of pain and fell to the ground, clutching her stomach. The boomerang returned to Kitsune, who caught it, a smile on her face. 

"Wow peoples!" Faye said, excitedly, "It looks like Kitsune's fan is really some sort of shape-changing weapon that can morph into whatever the user wants it to!" 

"Dang right," Kitsune said, "Pretty hard to beat that, isn't it?" Arashi struggled to her feet, her arm protectively around her stomach. 

"Hey, there's something I don't get," Kuwabara asked, "If Arashi can control the air, why couldn't she just make a wall of air so the weapon couldn't reach her, kind of like what Jin did with Urameshi's Spirit Gun?" 

"Because, you baka," Hiei said, "Arashi can't exactly control the air." 

"What? But she can fly!" Yusuke said, "Isn't that controlling the air?" 

"It's just an added perk," Kozu said, "She can't do it for very long, of course, but she can!" 

"Oh, she's out of the ring! I forgot," Faye said, "One! Two!" Arashi smiled through her pain. 

"Don't worry," she gasped, "I'm not out yet." She jumped back into the ring, not to risk flying again. That had taken a lot of energy--but still, she hadn't been able to resist showing off just a little bit. 

"And she's back!" Faye said, "The fight continues!" 

"My turn!" Arashi exclaimed. She closed her eyes to better concentrate what power she had left. Thunderclouds gathered overhead. Lightning flashed, and one fork came directly into the ring, landing right in front of Kitsune, frying the edge of her kimono. She leapt back with a yell. 

"I have my own powers," Arashi said, smugly. With a little release of energy, the clouds released all they were holding, which happened to be not rain, but hail. 

"OW!" Faye exclaimed, as she got hit by a hailstone, "Those things are HUGE! Those of you who aren't sitting under a cover, I suggest you move or else get serious bruises! Ow!" Team Rose hurried to just inside their entrance, where they could watch without getting stoned to death. Hiei, who was used to Arashi's hailstorms, put up a shield around Team Urameshi, careful to exclude Kuwabara and he WOULD have excluded Niyali, had the now-unconscious girl not been laying half in Kozu's lap. 

Arashi laughed. 

"You can't find me in all this hail, can you?" she called tauntingly, "You can't find me, you can't find me, you can't find me---" 

"FOUND YOU!" Kitsune came hurtling through the hail, hand extended, claws at the ready. Arashi leapt backwards, but the claws grazed her arm, and she bit back a cry of pain. The hail ceased. 

"Poison Sakura Slash," Kitsune said, looking at her claws proudly, "Now let's see, you're a...demon, correct? Yes, well, then I guess you've got about ten minutes to live. Actually, more like nine and a half now." Arashi growled. 

"Arashi?" Kozu called, hesitantly, "Are you all right?" Arashi didn't answer, she was, for once, too busy thinking. 

_:Ok, ten minutes to beat her. Actually, probably less, because I need to find a cure. I don't want to die! What am I going to do?:_

*****__**

Arashi: HEY! NIYALI! How could you just leave off at a cliffie like that? I don't want to die! 

Niyali: *small voice* Candy. 

Arashi: Hey, I've sensed a pattern here...both you and me, in our battles, had the same troubles as to what to do with our opponents! 

Niyali: *smaller, tear-filled voice* candy. 

Arashi: Is that all you wrote? 

Niyali: *whispers* candy. 

Arashi: *sighs* Fine. *pops Jolly Rancher into Niyali's mouth* 

Niyali: CANDY! *sucks happily* 

Arashi: NOW will you finish the chapter? 

Niyali: Ok! *moves over to computer, looks thoughtful for a moment, starts typing like crazy* 

Arashi: Back to the chapter, here you go! 

***

Kitsune was laughing, her fan held to her chest as she shook with laughter at Arashi's state. Arashi's eyes narrowed. 

_:That's it!_: In a blur, she had raced over to Kitsune, grabbed the fan, and back to her original position. Kitsune blinked. 

"Hey...gimme that back!" 

"You said it becomes whatever the user wants it to?" Arashi said, and thought. The fan became a sword. "COOL!" 

"GIVE THAT BACK!" 

"No!" Arashi took to the air, watching the fan switch weapons. Sword, bow, boomerang, katana, dagger, axe, mace, and finally, a large rubber hammer. 

"AWESOME! I'VE ALWAYS WANTED ONE OF THESE!" Arashi zoomed down and whacked Kitsune on the head with it. 

"OW!!" 

"Oh, wait, it probably shouldn't be rubber," Arashi said, and the hammer became wood. "That's better." She whacked Kitsune again, and the hanyou fell to the ground, out like a light. 

"WOW! What an amazing comeback! I'll take a ten count! One!" Arashi came back to the ground, looking at the mallet in her hands. 

"Wow," she muttered, "I feel...I don't know..." 

"Five! Six!" 

"I feel...like I need...to..." 

"Eight! Nine! Ten! And Arashi is the winner!" 

"WHACK SOMEONE!" Arashi turned to Faye and promptly hit her over the head with the hammer. Faye was knocked unconscious and fell down next to Kitsune. 

"Ok," Arashi said, tossing the mallet (which became a fan again) on top of Kitsune, "Impulse gone." There was a silence. 

"ARASHI!" Kozu yelled, "IN CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, YOU'VE ONLY GOT ABOUT THREE MINUTES LEFT TO LIVE!" Arashi screamed and leapt out of the ring, running around in circles. 

"AAAAAAAAAAH! I'M GOING TO DIE I'MGONNADIEI'MGONNADIEI'MGONNADIEI'MGONNADIEI'MGONNADIEI'MGONNA-hey!" As she ran by, Kurama had seized her arm and pushed a seed into the open wound on her arm. 

"Death seed," he told her, "It will suck out the poison, and in turn the poison will kill the plant. You'll be good as new." Arashi's eyes widened. 

"This feels...really weird..." she said, slowly, "I've got a plant inside me..." 

"Now you know how I feel," Niyali muttered, "Every single day. Did 'ja win?" 

"Only by a whole lot!" Arashi exclaimed, "It was great! She slashed me and I was all poisoned and everything and then she had a weapon that could become any type of weapon and then--" Arashi babbled on about her fight to Niyali, who was watching her intently and hanging on her every word. Hiei smirked and muttered something unintelligible. 

"What was that?" Kurama asked him. 

"Nothing, kitsune." 

"Uh, guys," Kuwabara said, "We've got another problem...who's going to fight next?" 

"Hn. I'll fight," Hiei said, and walked forwards. 

"Go HIEI!" Arashi cheered, "You're the BEST!" 

"Hn. I know I am. Now shut up." 

"Ok." 

***  
_Team Rose_  
***

"HOW COULD WE LOSE AGAIN!?" Aries roared, "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!" 

"If you're so confident," Inumiko told her, "Then why don't you go fight?" Aries stared at her for a moment before smiling coldly. 

"Why not?" she said, softly, "We may actually start winning." Turning, she herself headed for the ring, where Hiei was already waiting. The third battle was ready to begin---except for one thing. 

Faye was still out cold on the ground. 

  
*****__**

Well, there you go! Chapter Six! If Niyali gets some candy, you'll get Chapter Seven! 

Next time! The third battle of the Tournament continues, Hiei vs. Aries! The Captain of Team Rose's got some neat tricks---including one that deprives Hiei of his energy! With barely enough energy to lift his katana, how on earth can he win this one? 

**That's all next time on YUYUHAKUSHO!! Thanks for taking my job away, ff.net!...not. **


	7. If You Can't Handle the Heat, Then Get O...

**_Niyali's back...thanks for the sugar, peoples! _**

***  
Disclaimer: We don't own Frogari.  
*** 

_Warning: Mild Spoilers. _

Chapter Seven: If You Can't Handle the Heat, Then Get Out of the Fire   
***

"GO HIEI!" Arashi yelled, "YOU CAN BEAT HER!" 

"Shut up," Hiei said, without turning around. 

"OK!" Arashi's face was lit up with happiness as she sat on the ground next to Niyali. 

"I know he's going to win," she said, happily, "He always does." 

"There's a first time for everything," Niyali reminded her, "Maybe he'll lose." Arashi gasped. 

"How could Hiei _lose_? He's HIEI!" 

"I know," Niyali said, as if that made all the difference in the world. Arashi stared at her. 

"What do you have against fire demons, anyway?" Niyali chose to ignore her; instead, she was singing the Lemmings Song under her breath. 

"Doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih DIH dih di! Doo dih DIH dih di!" Arashi joined in on the second line. 

"Doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih dih dih dih doo-dih-dih-dih doo dih DIH di di! Doo dih DIH di di!" Kozu, ears pricking up as she recognized the song, helped them sing the third line. 

"Dih dih dih dih dih dih DIH! Dih dih dih dih dih dih DIH! Dih dih..." As that was all there was to the song, the three of them proceeeded to sing it again. And again. And again. 

"Why aren't they fighting?" Kuwabara asked Yusuke, looking at Aries and Hiei just standing in the ring, "Are we just going to stand here all day?" 

"You idiot, the referee's out cold," Yusuke told him, "We can't continue until they get another one!" 

"Oh yeah." 

"Sorry for the delay, ladies and gentlemen!" Came a new, male voice, "As soon as I can get into the ring, the match will begin!" They all turned to see what looked like a humanoid frog running into the stadium. His long dark-green hair billowed out behind him as he raced towards the ring, tripped over a rock, and landed flat on his face. 

The crowd roared with laughter as he got back up, his dark blue polo shirt and blue dress pants covered in dirt. He brushed them off and dropped the microphone he was carrying as he did so. The crowd laughed again. 

"Sorry about that!" He apologized, as soon as he had gotten his microphone back, "That's what happens when you're born with webbed feet and sign up for an announcing job!" He took a running leap and landed in the ring, miraculously not falling. He lifted his microphone to his mouth once more. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, demons, half-demons, and humans of all-kinds, my name is Frogari and I'll be your replacement announcer! I'd like to thank the clean-up crew, they did a WONDERFUL job cleaning up the ring from the last tournament. In fact, I think they got it a little too clean--it's time to get some blood on it! Fighters, on your mark, get set, and BEGIN!" The two fighters stared at each other for a moment before Aries smirked. 

"You do know this is a fight you can't win," she stated. He smirked as well. 

"Hn. We'll see." In a smooth motion, he had drawn his katana and spun it once before shifting to a fighting stance. Aries's smirk grew colder as she drew two swords, twirling them herself before crossing them at arm's length in front of her. The two of them stared at each other, neither blinking nor moving. 

"Hello, fighters?" came Frogari's impatient voice, "Are we _fighting_ sometime today?" Silence reigned again as everyong waited for the first move. 

No one really knew what happened next. One minute the fighters were as still as statues, the next they were moving around the ring so fast that all that could be seen were two black blurs, moving rapidly from here to there. Only Kuwabara was able to track their movements, and just barely at that. His eyeballs were flickering back and forth, back and forth in all directions as he tried to keep an eye on the competitors. 

"So?" Yusuke asked, "What's happening?" 

"Uh...they're both....they....uh....they're both fighting." 

"How observant," Kozu muttered. Arashi had produced a banner with a picture of Chibi Hiei's head, and was waving it around excitedly, screaming, "GO HIEI!" at the top of her lungs. 

Hiei did his best to ignore her, but while he was pivoting to attack Aries, he caught sight of the banner. His katana faltered, and Aries moved in, slashing the fire demon across the chest. Hiei instantly threw one arm protectively over his stomach and came to a halt, katana still in hand, one eye on Aries and the other on Arashi's banner. 

"Here we go!" Frogari said, "It seems that Aries has managed to get in the first hit of the day!" 

"Put that thing away," Hiei called to Arashi. 

"NO! It's YOU, Hiei!" 

"That doesn't even look like me!" 

"Oh...well, I can draw a better one!" She took out a pencil, laid the banner on the ground, and crouched over it, "Hold still, Hiei!" Sometime during her last sentence, Aries had rushed Hiei again, and the two of them were now locked in battle. 

"I CAN'T!" Hiei roared to Arashi, "I'M FIGHTING!" 

"Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to go by memory then!" 

"NO!" If there was one thing bad about Arashi, it was her memory. It STUNK. 

"Oh...GO HIEI!" Arashi lifted the banner back up and continued waving and screaming at the top of her lungs. 

"And they're at it again!" Frogari exclaimed, "Going from here to there to here to---they're moving so fast I can't keep track of the-EM!" The last part of his word was said in a yell as he took a step backwards and fell over. Hiei, coming around at the exact moment, leapt in time to avoid tripping. Aries was not so lucky. She tripped over Frogari's outstretched legs and landed on top of him. Hiei seized his oppurtunity and slashed at her with his katana. Aries saw this coming and rolled over, but the katana slit her right arm, and she dropped that sword with a clatter. 

Frogari pushed Aries off of him and picked up his microphone. 

"Sorry about that!" he exclaimed, "Didn't see you coming!" Aries ignored him, glaring coldly at Hiei, who stared levelly back. 

"You can't win this," she told him, once again. 

"You shouldn't draw conclusions," he replied. Dang, this girl was as skilled as him. She didn't seem like a human, although she looked it, there was something strange about her, something not-quite demonic. He couldn't win at sword-play, and most of his other options seemed too weak. Besides, she was getting on his nerves. That left him only one choice. 

Dragon of the Darkness Flame. 

"You cannot win," she repeated. 

"You've said that already," Hiei said, casually removing his bandana. His Jagan opened on his forehead; already he was feeling much more powerful and at ease. Calling upon his ki, he began to set the bait for the Dragon. 

Aries's eyes flashed as she stared at her shorter opponent; he was staring back. Invisible to the un-spiritually aware, black flames were dancing around him, a sure sign he was planning something. But he had been right, Aries was not an ordinary demon. Rather, she was an alien. Physic abilities made her a class A assassin on her home planet, but there was a reason she was here. Her own sister had committed suicide, and Aries had not been able to stop her. There was only one way to get her back. 

Aries would have willingly lost to Hiei if it meant bringing her sister back, but losing was not an option. Winning the Tournament was the only solution. 

She could not lose. 

***

"BOTAN! George, get me Botan right now!" 

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't do that, Koenma sir." 

"WHY NOT?" 

"Botan left. She said something about going to see Yusuke and the others fight at the Tournament..." 

"WHAT? AND YOU LET HER?" 

"No, Koenma sir! I had nothing to do with it!" 

"Hmph. Very well, I shall except your word for the time being. NOW HURRY UP AND PACK YOUR STUFF! We're leaving in ten minutes!" 

"Leaving?! What for, Koenma sir?" 

"We're going to go see the Tournament, DUH! Now HURRY UP!" 

"Yes, Koenma sir! Right away sir!" 

***

Even so, Aries didn't feel like killing Hiei. He was a worthy opponent. Perhaps they could fight again when the stakes weren't so high. 

She twirled her fingers absently, and a rose appeared out of nowhere, held between the index and middle fingers of her left hand. She brought it up to the right side of her face, and held it there, watching Hiei with deliberate calmness. 

Hiei didn't pay her a second glance. Drawing the Dragon out was taking more time; more time then it should have. Just a little bit longer, he could feel it coming already... 

"ETERNAL ROSE FLARE!" Seizing her sword in the same hand as the rose, Aries rushed Hiei, catching him by surprise. He stepped to the side, and her sword only nicked his arm as she passed by, drawing only a trickle of blood. 

But it would be enough. 

"Is that the best you can do?" Hiei asked. She smiled. 

"Wait a moment, Hiei. Just wait." He stared at her for a moment until he began to feel the oddest sensation. It was as if roses were growing inside of him, thorns and all, sapping away his energy and transferring it to-- 

Her _rose_? 

Aries smiled as Hiei's eyes widened slightly. 

"Wonderful, isn't it?" she said, watching her rose as the petals turned slowly to black, "I'm taking your energy. Soon you'll barely be able to stand on your own, and then I shall take this fight. There's nothing you can do." 

"HIEI!" Arashi cried, from the sidelines, "COME ON, HIEI! THINK OF SOMETHING! YOU'RE NOT MY BOYFRIEND FOR NOTHING!" 

"I'M...NOT YOUR BOYFRIEND...AT ALL!" Hiei yelled. His energy, physical and non, was being sucked into Aries's rose. Even the ki he had used as bait for the Dragon was being taken. Everything was going. 

Over in Aries's hand, the rose turned fully black, and she laughed. A cold, hard laugh. With a small push of her mind, the energy stored in the rose began to leak into her, refreshing her, filling her with new feeling and energy, and power. A lot of power. Her laugh grew colder, and more evil, as Hiei staggered and thrust his katana into the ring, leaning against it for better balance. 

"Woah, this is bad," Kuwabara commented, "That girl's taken all of Shrimpy's energy!" 

"Yes," Kurama agreed, staring into the ring, his thoughts racing, "All of it." _:If Aries did take all of it, then she surely took the bait Hiei meant for the Dragon. And if the Dragon's still coming, then that means--hang in there, Hiei. Once it gets here...:_

"Come on, Hiei!" Kozu whispered, "Do something!" 

Aries was laughing, Arashi was shouting, Frogari was saying something, all the noise combined into one as the world spun around. He clutched his katana for support. A little more energy lost and he'd be unconscious. As for now, if Aries attacked---it would all be over. Hiei slowly raised his head to look at his opponent; she was still laughing, her rose clutched to her chest, petals pulsing black, red, black, red, black flames around her leaping higher and higher, entertwining with each other as-- 

_Black flames_? But that would mean...the Dragon was still coming. And with the bait now in Aries's hands, the Dragon would seek to--_channel through her_. 

All at once, there was a gigantic lurch of power. Columns of black rose from the water around the island, arching and pouring into the middle of the stadium, all gathering around Aries, who was looking around her with slightly wide eyes. Her lips moved, but no-one could hear what she was saying. The power increased, and suddenly the sound came back on; Aries's heart-rending shriek as the Dragon sought to escape through her. And although she had Hiei's power, she did not have Hiei's control over it. 

And it wanted out. 

Aries's scream grew in pitch and volume as the flames gathered closer around her, her whole body turning black and trembling with the effort. With a last, tortured note, her song of agony ended as her very particles ripped apart from each other, the Dragon emerging from her non-existent remains. What would be its head swiveled around once, twice, seeming to look around it before surging forwards, slamming into Hiei (the only thing in its path; Frogari had fled the scene), and at once absorbing into his body. 

Hiei felt the Dragon inside him, coursing through his veins, flooding him with new energy, replacing all that Aries had stolen. He stood up straight and wrenched his katana out of the ground, sliding it into its sheath before looking calmly around him, searching for any remains of Aries. After finding none, he uttered but one word: 

"Hn." And he smirked. 

***

**_Aaaaand...that ending stunk. But who cares. _**

((Arashi in the background is fainting over Hiei's greatness)) 

I kind of modified Aries's character to better fit the story. Anyway, happy Thanksgiving everybody! 


	8. Holes and Hellos

**_Nothin' to say...again... _**

  
Disclaimer: We don't own Inumiko...wait, didn't we say that already?

***  
Chapter Eight: Hellos and Holes   
***

Sapphire sighed. 

"Will you stop that?" Hin asked. 

"What are we going to do now? Our captain's gone." 

"That's Inumiko's decision," Yamiko stated calmly. Inumiko blinked. 

"What? Me?" 

"You're the CoCaptain, aren't you?" Yamiko asked. 

"Well...I guess...but...what does that have to do with anything?" 

"So you make the decision what we do. Are we fighting?" Inumiko paused, deep in thought. They were down two to nothing; one more win on Team Urameshi's part meant a loss for them. Then they'd certainly be kicked out of the Tournament, and that wouldn't be a good thing. Each had a reason for coming to this tournament; if they were kicked out, how could they fulfill them? 

"Well?" Hin asked, "We're waiting." Inumiko took a deep breath and let it out slowly. 

"Well," she said, carefully, "I've been thinking about this---maybe we should---" 

"Less think, more doing," Sapphire said, playfully, "Just do it! We trust you, don't we?" Hin nodded. Yamiko smiled. Kitsune and Han were still out cold, so they couldn't exactly answer. Inumiko smiled herself before walking towards the ring, hoisting herself up and in before walking to the center. But she didn't stop there. 

***

"It's about time we got in," Keiko said, as she and the other girls made their way through the inner part of the stadium towards the arena, "I thought we weren't going to get through." 

"Thank goodness for easily distracted bouncers!" Botan exclaimed. The four females entered the stands at one of the top entrances, and once their eyes adjusted to the light, they could clearly see what was going on down below. 

"What's going on, why is no one fighting?" Keiko asked. 

"Maybe a fight just ended?" Yukina suggested. 

"Come on," Shizuru said, starting down the steps, "Let's go get a closer look." 

*** 

"So who's fighting next?" Yusuke asked, turning to Kozu and Kuwabara. The three of them, in case you don't remember, were the only ones who had yet to fight. 

"I think she should," Kuwabara said, "I can't fight girls, and all our opponents are completely female!" Kozu rolled her eyes. Niyali gave a cough which sounded suspiciously like "coward." Yusuke turned to Kozu. 

"Why can't you fight girls anyway?" Kozu asked Kuwabara. 

"It's against my honor code!" 

"What kind of idiot has an honor code?" 

"A sensible one." 

"That's an oxymoron." 

"Pardon me," said a voice, "If I may interrupt?" They looked up to see a girl, with a blue star on her forehead, standing on the edge of the ring, looking down at them. 

"Who are you?" Kuwabara asked. 

"I'm Inumiko," Inumiko said casually, hopping down from the ring to land on their side of the ring, "Replacement Captain of Team Rose! Which one of you is Captain here?" 

"That's me," Yusuke said. She turned to him. 

"I've been thinking," she said, "Your team is good, and so is mine. We both have our own particular advantages in different situations." 

"And?" Yusuke prompted. 

"You're here for your reasons, and we're here for ours. Mine can be accomplished from a distance, while others must be here for theirs. I would hate for them not to be able to fulfill the missions they came here for." 

"And?" Yusuke asked. 

"If we lose to your team, we will be forcibly removed from this tournament. That would not be a good thing. However, if we were to lose a different way..." She trailed off. They waited for her to continue. She took a breath and turned away, getting back into the ring and heading over to Frogari. 

"That was odd," Yusuke commented. Inumiko was talking with Frogari, and after a moment, he handed his microphone over to her reluctantly. 

"As Captain of Team Rose," she announced, her voice ringing throughout the stadium, "I hereby recognize my power to speak on the behalf of my team, and therefore forfeit the match to the Captain of Team Urameshi." Ignoring the wide-eyed stares and many whisperings that were spreading throughout the stadium, she handed the microphone back to Frogari and headed back to her team, who were looking stunned. 

"So..." Kuwabara blinked a couple times, "We won?" 

"That's what forfeit means, you idiot," Hiei snapped. 

"YEAH! WE WON!" 

***  
_Later..._  
*** 

"That went well," Yusuke commented, as he and the rest of his team left the stadium to head back towards the hotel. 

"Considering you didn't show up until the first match was over, I'd have to agree," Kurama said. 

"That was not my fault!" Yusuke protested. 

"It was somebody's," Niyali insisted. 

"YUSUKE! KUWABARA! WAIT!!" The team stopped and turned to see four girls running towards them. 

"Botan?" Yusuke gasped, "Keiko?" 

"Sis!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "YUKINA!" Hiei's eyes widened for a brief moment before settling back into a glare at Kuwabara. Niyali and Kozu exchanged a glance, and Niyali turned to look at Arashi, who she had been certain was right next to her. She wasn't. 

"Koenma just told us you were in this tournament a few hours ago," Botan told the guys, "Honestly, I can't believe it slipped his mind that much!" 

"Are you all right?" Keiko asked Yusuke. 

"You're not hurt, are you?" Yukina followed up. 

"Oh, no sweetums!" Kuwabara said, taking her hands in his, "I'm not hurt at all!" Kozu was watching with disgust until Niyali grabbed her shirt and pulled her off the path into the woods. 

"That's wonderful, Kazuma! Did you win your fight?" 

"Nah, Kuwabara didn't even fight!" Yusuke said, whacking Kuwabara on the back and almost causing him to fall. 

"That's my baby bro for you," Shizuru said, "Always letting other people do the work for him." 

"Hey, sis, that's not true!" 

"It is from what I've seen." 

"Hey!" 

"Koenma mentioned that you had to have seven people to fight in this tournament," Botan said, "Did you find three more people?" 

"About a minute before we boarded the train," Yusuke said, "And they found us." 

"Oh! So you know each other, then?" Keiko asked. 

"Not exactly," Kurama added, "One of them knew Hiei and that's about it." 

"Well, where are they?" Botan demanded, "I'd love to meet them! After all, we're going to be spending a lot of time together in the next few weeks!" The boys chose to ignore that comment. 

"Hey, where _are_ they?" Kuwabara asked, looking around, "They were here a minute ago..." 

"Don't tell me they ran off!" Yusuke moaned. 

"I think they did," Kurama affirmed. 

"Are they shy?" Botan asked. 

"Not when it comes to Arashi and Hiei," Yusuke said. Hiei glared at him. 

"Arashi?" Yukina asked. 

"One of our teammates, sweetie," Kuwabara enlighted her, "She likes Hiei." 

"Shut up," Hiei growled. 

"It's not a two-way relationship," Kurama added. 

"Oh." 

"But where did they go?" Keiko asked, "I'm sure I saw seven people inside the stadium earlier..." 

"They must have left when we weren't looking," Kuwabara said. 

"They could have left at any time, then," Hiei commented dryly. 

"Then they could be anywhere," Yusuke said, running his hands through his hair in exasperation, "How the heck are we supposed to find them?" Hiei gave him a look and took off his bandana. His Jagan opened almost immediately. 

"Arashi's that way," he said after a moment, nodding in one direction. 

"And Niyali and Kozu?" Kurama prompted. There was a pause. 

"That way," Hiei said, at last, nodding in the opposite direction from where Arashi had gone. Yusuke sighed. 

"Great, so they can't even stick together when they're running away," Yusuke said, "Well, we should probably go look for them." 

"And what are we supposed to do?" Botan demanded. Yusuke shrugged. 

"Go back to the hotel, I guess. We'll meet you there." 

***

"Why did we leave?" Kozu asked Niyali. 

"To find Arashi. She wasn't there." 

"Oh. When did she leave?" 

"...I dunno..." 

"Do you know where she went?" Niyali looked down at the ground. 

"Do you?" Kozu prompted. 

"...I was kinda hoping you knew..." Kozu threw her hands up in frustration. 

"Great. So we don't even know if we're heading in the right direction!" 

"I'm _sorry_!" Niyali cried, "I just want to find Arashi and make sure she's all right!" 

"It's ok," Kozu said, "Don't start crying!" Niyali sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. 

"I think she left after Hiei obliterated that alien person," Kozu said. 

"Why?" 

"Maybe it triggered some unpleasant memories. You weren't looking too happy when you saw the black flames, either..." 

"Shut up." 

"Why? Why do you always get so upset whenever you see fire? It's not that dangerous, but you always--" 

"SHUT UP!" Several birds scattered from their perches in nearby trees. Kozu looked up, shocked, at Niyali's face. 

"You don't understand," Niyali spat, "No one ever will! If I can't stand fire, I have a reason and that's my business! No one else needs to know!" 

"But---" 

"NO ONE!" Kozu's eyes welled up with tears. 

"Oh," she said, "I get it. You can't tell your own friend a secret." 

"No, it's just---" Niyali sighed, "It's not that. I'm just not ready to tell anybody just yet." 

"But when will you be ready? You haven't been ready ever since Arashi met you! She told me." 

"I don't know," Niyali admitted, "I just don't know." The two of them continued walking in silence, both of them staring down at the ground. 

Kozu stepped on something squishy and leapt back. 

"EW!" she exclaimed, "I think I stepped in something!" 

"What?" Niyali asked, coming forwards. Something cracked underneath her foot, and as she looked down to see what she stepped on, the ground disappeared. She yelped and grabbed Kozu, pulling her down with her. The two little girls screamed as they fell, falling into a seemingly bottomless pit. But of course, no pit is bottomless, and they eventually hit the bottom with a thud. There was a long silence, in which there was only heavy breathing as the two of them tried to relax. 

"Well, well, what do we have here?" They looked up to see somebody looking down into the pit at them. Kozu recognized him at once. 

"You're that Minoru guy, aren't you?" she demanded, "I thought I recognized you from the train!" He laughed. 

"That would be me," he admitted. 

"I could care less who you are," Niyali spat, "Why did you dig this hole?" 

"All the members of a team must fight in the next round," he said, "If two of the members of Team Urameshi are trapped in a hole, Team Urameshi can't continue, can they?" 

"But what if we escape?" Kozu asked, a smile creeping up onto her face. He smiled, as well. 

"But you won't be able to," he told her. She frowned. 

"Why not?" 

"Because, little one," he said, "Minoru planned this out." Kozu opened her mouth to tell him that that was no reason, but he disappeared from the mouth of the hole and the next second, there was a crash and a thud, and dirt rained down on them. When it stopped, there was complete darkness. 

"Niyali?" she asked. There was the sound of coughing to her right. 

"Stupid dirt," Niyali muttered, coughing, "I think I inhaled some..." 

"Don't move, I'm going up to see what happened." Kozu summounded her ki and jumped, flying up, up, and up until she banged her head on something hard. 

"OW!" she exclaimed. 

"What is it?" Niyali called up. Kozu reached her hands up and felt around in the darkness. 

"It's a boulder!" she called back, "It's covering the mouth of the hole---we're trapped!" 

***

**_Blah blah blah...more blah...good news, old news that nobody cares about anymore...ah, well, spoiler time! _**

Next time: Arashi is found and meets the girls, and they learn a small secret about her life! Niyali and Kozu are still trapped in this hole; the heavy boulder on top not only cuts off their only escape route, it prevents passer-by from thinking anything unusual, and it's blocking air's only way in. Will somebody discover them before it's too late---for them and for the remainder of Team Urameshi? You'll just have to wait and see! 

**...actually, you don't have to wait that long. Just click the little button that says "review"...or the arrows to the next chapter, I s'pose... **


	9. Problems NOT Solved

**_No blurb today. Go read._**

Disclaimer: Still own nothing. This time we don't own...a bunch of stuff! 

Chapter Nine: Problems NOT Solved

  
*** 

The Death Isle Hotel was a place of mingling. Humans, half-humans, and demons were forced to spend time with each other as they ate dinner at the buffet, swam in the pool, soaked in the baths. It was almost as if the Tournament encouraged them to mingle. 

Up in the room of Team Urameshi, panicking was happening more then mingling. 

"Where the heck could they be?!?" Yusuke asked, pacing the room. The boys had found Arashi and returned with her to the hotel room, where she had been introduced to Botan, Yukina, Keiko, and Shizuru. The normally-hyper girl seemed subdued, and it looked as if she had been crying. Botan, of course, had immediately begun trying to cheer her up; making faces and weird noises, telling jokes and funny stories. Arashi stared at her, blinking once or twice until Botan told her about something Hiei had ocne done. The girl then burst out laughing and couldn't stop, even when Hiei glared at her. She laughed so hard she choked, and they had to get her a drink of water. Arashi gulped it down and smiled. 

"You're so _funny_, Hiei!" she exclaimed before giving him a huggle. The girls erupted into a chorus of 'awwwwwwwww' and quickly stopped once Hiei glared at them. 

"This is not good!" Yusuke exclaimed, still pacing, "We've been to the meeting, how can we all fight if two of our members are missing?" 

"Missing?" Arashi asked, "Where'd they go?" 

"We think they went after you," Kurama explained, "Once they discovered you were gone, they had to go and try to find you." 

"They were heading in the wrong direction," Hiei growled, trying to push Arashi off of him. 

"And then they just disappeared," Kuwabara added, "I couldn't even sense their Spirit Energy." 

"That doesn't sound good," Botan said, "Has Hiei tried his Jagan?" 

"Searched the whole island," Hiei muttered, "Nothing there." 

"How do two girls just disappear?" Keiko mused, "They're not strong enough to teleport, are they?" 

"They _can't_ teleport," Arashi said, "The most Kozu can do is fly, and Niyali can't do that unless she's in another form." 

"You must know a lot about them," Yukina said, "Have you been friends long?" Arashi thought. 

"I've been friends with Kozu for years and years, and Niyali even longer. I first met her soon after my parents died---" Her eyes grew wide and she shut up abruptly. 

"Your parents died?" Botan asked. Arashi's eyes welled up with tears and she nodded once before beginning to cry, burying her face in Hiei's cloak. 

"Get OFF me!" Hiei told her, once again, but she continued to hold on, crying and soaking his cloak with tears. He gave her a push and she let go, falling on her rear on the floor, still crying. 

"Poor thing," Botan said, and gathered Arashi into her arms, "It's all right, Arashi..." 

"No it's not," Arashi moaned, "They're dead and there was nothing I could do about it!" Botan soothingly rubbed the little girl's back until Arashi's sobs grew quieter and finally faded all together. 

"Here," Keiko said, digging in her pocket and producing her handkercheif, "Wipe your eyes." 

"Thanks." Arashi took it and did so before handing the handkercheif back to Keiko. 

"How did--" Kuwabara started. Yusuke stepped on his foot. "OW! Urameshi--" 

"Later," Yusuke hissed. 

"Oh," Kuwabara muttered, and there was silence in the room for a while. 

"Well," Yusuke said, after a while, "We might as well go to bed. If the girls haven't shown up yet, maybe they'll show up in the night. We're not going to find them in the dark, anyway." He got up and headed into the boys room, shutting the door behind him. After a moment, Kuwabara followed. Botan, Keiko, Shizuru, and Yukina left for their own hotel room, and the three remaining went into their own respective rooms. After the noises of people preparing for bed stopped, it grew quiet again, and each was left alone in the dark with their own thoughts for a while until at last, they fell asleep. 

***

It was so dark...but she didn't dare to light a flame...blackness was everywhere, above, around and below her. She could feel the solidity of the dirt below her, but the fact that she couldn't see it didn't help. It was so quiet underground...you couldn't hear the wildlife or the sounds of busy people doing...stuff around you in the hotel. Kozu couldn't stand it anymore. She broke the silence. 

"Hey Niyali?" There was a shuffling sound to her right. 

"Hm?" came Niyali's quiet voice. Neither one of them saw the point in yelling--no one could hear them anyway. 

"Do you think somebody will find us?" 

"I don't know. The fire demon has that third eye...he should be able to." 

"No, he won't. On my way down, I discovered there are little bits of paper plastered on the sides of the wall. I can't tell what's written on them, but..." 

"Wards, most likely. Keep us from escaping and from being found." Kozu swore. 

"I hate that Minoru," she said, "He's really got us caught this time." There was another pause. Kozu could just make out Niyali, lying on her side near her. 

"Kozu?" 

"Uh-huh?" 

"Why'd you think we're still alive? We've been in here for..." there was a pause, "...a long time. Shouldn't we have run out of oxygen?" Kozu shrugged, then remembered Niyali couldn't see it. 

"I dunno." 

"Oh." Silence reigned again. The two captives' hyperness had seemed to come to an end once their fate had finally been accepted--doomed to suffocate to death in a hole. 

Life can be so fun sometimes. 

***  
_Death Isle Forest_  
***

Fog covered the tree-surrounded field that the second round was to take place on. On one end of the field stood Team Urameshi; on the other, Team Kokushibyou. From this distance, it was impossible to tell details; the other team were only seven dark shapes. Frogari was another dark shape, and Faye was refereeing from above. A large, dark shape rose from the dead center of the field; as far as they could tell, it was a boulder. 

Tendrils of fog coiled lazily around Yusuke's feet, but he ignored them. Niyali and Kozu still hadn't shown up; and there still wasn't a trace of them anywhere on the isle. Things weren't looking good. 

"Detective," Hiei hissed. Yusuke snapped out of his thoughts and blinked. 

"What?" 

"Captains are supposed to be at the center," Kurama informed him, "Frogari just announced that." 

"Oh. Right." Yusuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked towards the boulder. It was strangely quiet in this forest; the field was strictly reserved for those competing or refereeing. 

At the center (which was marked by the boulder), he met with Frogari and a 6-foot-tall girl. She had short, crimpy red hair that was held back by a black head band, and was wearing a black tank top, black martial arts pants, black vest, and black biker gloves. A gold dragon was tatooed around her left arm, and a silver phoenix on her right. Her orange, cat-like eyes widened a fraction of an inch when she saw Yusuke, but she didn't say anything. 

"Captains, discuss your terms!" Frogari said. 

"One on one matches," the girl said, immediately, "Everybody fights. Team that has won the majority by the end wins." 

"Fine by me," Yusuke said. 

"And it's decided!" Frogari exclaimed, "Seven one-on-one matches, and everybody fights! Team with the majority of wins...wins! Teams, pick your fighters and send them to the center of the ring, please!" 

"I'm taking this fight," Kuwabara declared, "I didn't get to fight last round, so it's my turn now!" He rushed past Yusuke into the center of the field. Team Kokushibyou had already selected their fighter. He was clad in vibrant colors that showed up easily against the dreariness of the fog; orange tank top, orange pants that looked like Hiei's, a green sash and a red head band holding his blue hair out of his green eyes. A green bandana was tied around his forehead. 

"First round, Team Urameshi's Kuwabara against Team Kokushibyou's Yakusoku. Fighters, on your mark, get set---ah, to heck with this, BEGIN!!" 

***

  
_** I'm too lazy to type more. Next chapter, if you can't already tell, is Kuwabara vs. Yakusoku. And trust me, Yakusoku's got some very interesting powers you don't want to miss. So...hit the little button and keep reading! **_


	10. Blood and Bones

**Disclaimer: We don't own Zaraya or Yakusoku. **

***

Chapter Ten: Blood and Bones

*** 

"Be careful, Kuwabara!" Yusuke called, "We don't want you getting killed this early in the Tournament!" 

"Shut up, Urameshi! I can handle this on my own!" Kuwabara's opponent smiled. 

"It's so nice to have team members that worry about you," he said, smiling, "Let's make a formal introduction before we start fighting." He held out his hand. "Yakusoku Jag." 

"Kazuma Kuwabara," Kuwabara said, shaking Yakusoku's hand. 

"Oh, look, they've become friends," Frogari said, sarcastically, "Less of this 'friendship' stuff and more blood!" 

"The frog's right," Yakusoku said, "Tell you what, since I'm feeling generous today, why don't you go first?" Kuwabara grinned. 

"You're going to regret that! SPIRIT SWORD!" The familiar sword of yellow Spirit Energy flared into life in his hand, and he moved into a fighting stance, prepared for attack. Yakusoku smirked. 

"'Spirit Sword', huh? Interesting..." 

"Less talk, MORE BLOOD!" Frogari yelled into his microphone. 

"SHUT UP!" Yakusoku yelled at him, "YOU'RE COMPLETELY RUINING THE DRAMATIC TENSION!" 

"Yes, Frogari, you don't have to keep insisting for blood," Faye said, "I'm sure you'll get it soon enough." Frogari sulked and was quiet. Yakusoku sighed impatiently. 

"He's right. We should get on with it." He gripped his right wrist with his left hand. "Here's an attack I'm sure you'll find very familiar." Raising his hands, he moved his right index finger and thumb into a gun-shape and smirked. 

"No way," Yusuke gasped, "That's---" 

"SPIRIT GUN!" Kuwabara's eyes widened as an orb of energy was shot at him, black instead of Yusuke's blue. He twirled his Spirit Sword and deflected it off into the trees, where it left a ruin of wood in its wake. 

Yusuke's jaw was hanging open. 

"That's my attack," he whispered, dumbfounded, "How did he---but---it's _mine_..." 

"Don't like the attack?" Yakusoku asked, cocking his head, "I find it highly amusing." 

"Laugh at THIS!" Kuwabara rushed the demon, Spirit Sword at the ready. Yakusoku leapt back, but the sword grazed his stomach, ripping through his clothing and flesh and spraying blood in all directions. 

"Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!" Frogari exclaimed. 

"All right! GO KUWABARA!" Yusuke yelled, "YOU CAN BEAT HIM!" 

Yakusoku threw one hand over his stomach protectively, glaring at Kuwabara. 

"Not bad for a human," he spat, "Let's take this up a notch." Moving his spare hand up to his forehead, he ripped off his green bandana and let it fly off in the wind. On his forehead, an orange eye began to open. 

"WOAH!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "You've got a third eye just like the shrimp!" 

"Yes," Yakusoku said, "But unlike him, mine is natural. I was born with it." Hiei glared at him, and his own Jagan flared briefly beneath his bandana. 

Yakusoku laughed and removed his now blood-soaked arm from his chest. He flung his arm out and opened his hand, fingers curled apprehensively. Black spots began to dance around him, gathering in his out-stretched hand. 

"That's a lot of power," Yusuke stated, staring. 

"BLACK SPIRIT SCYTHE!" The black spots molded together, and now he was holding a scythe in his hand. He moved his left hand onto it as well. 

"Shall we fight?" he asked. Kuwabara responded by charging him, which Yakusoku easily blocked. The two fought intensely; blocking, attacking, and blocking again. Yakusoku was really good at dodging and attacking, so Kuwabara was hard pressed. Eventually, however, Yakusoku penetrated Kuwabara's defenses and slashed the human across the chest. Kuwabara gave a roar of pain and his Spirit Sword flickered into nothing. 

"More blood!" Frogari exclaimed, "This just keeps getting better and better!" Now both of them were bleeding; Kuwabara more than Yakusoku. Yakusoku smiled. 

"There. We're evenly matched now, wouldn't you say?" 

"That's what you think," Kuwabara growled, and his Spirit Sword flickered back into existence. 

"Of course," Yakusoku continued, "I don't like it that way. I prefer to have my matches go quickly---so let's hurry up and end this." 

"I'm with you on that," Kuwabara said, and held his sword at the ready, expecting another attack. 

It never came. 

Yakusoku began twirling his weapon in a slow figure eight, chanting something in a different language. His figure eight grew faster and faster until it was just a black and silver blur. Kuwabara watched this until a wave of power hit him. 

_:That's...a lot...of power...:_

"Where's it all coming from?" Arashi asked. 

"It's the dead," Kurama said. Yusuke and Arashi looked at him, confused. 

"The dead?" 

"Think about it. This field is where those who died in the past Tournaments are buried. That scythe has the ability to raise the dead and control them." 

"But can he control how many dead he pulls up?" Hiei asked, "I don't think so." 

"We'll just have to wait and see," Kurama finished. Yusuke and Arashi exchanged a look before turning back to the match as well. 

Yakusoku's scythe was twirling at an immense speed, and his chant had grown faster, too. With a sudden jerk of power, he stopped and thrust his schythe into the ground. 

"GUARDIAN SUMMON OF THE SPIRIT SET!!!" The power reached its peak, and everyone prepared themselves for the worst. 

But nothing came. 

Yakusoku looked confused. 

"Well, that's a bummer!" Faye exclaimed, "And here we were, expecting some great power show, and nothing came!" Yakusoku removed his scythe from the ground and prepared to try again. Just as he opened his mouth, there was a tremor in the ground. As it ended, there was a sudden burst of power and several things popped up out of the ground. On a closer look, they turned out to be bones--bones that pushed their way out of the ground. 

Arashi screamed and clung to Hiei as green-glowing demon skeletons materalized on the field. 

But more than one voice screamed along with hers. 

***

"Hey, Kozu?" 

"Uh huh?" 

"I thought you said you didn't have a light." 

"I don't." 

"Really?" 

"Uh huh!" 

"...then what's that green light I'm seeing?" Kozu opened her eyes and sure enough, their prison was lit up by a green light. Niyali was staring intently at her, fear written plainly across her face. 

"I don't know," Kozu said, "But it's not me..." 

"...then...what is it?" There was a nervous silence. Suddenly, the earth shook around and under them. Dirt fell from the 'walls' and above them, and they were soon covered in more dirt, and sitting in a good three inches of it. Niyali began to cough again as she inhaled some. Yet the glow had not subsided; rather, it had grown in intensity. And then a pale, boney hand thrust itself through the floor right between the two girls. 

Shock registered itself first, and they stared dumbly at it, ignoring the other various bones that were coming through the walls around them. It was when the first skeleton had completely materialized that what had just happened got through to their senses. 

Simultaneously, the two of them screamed. 

***

**_ Arashi's up in Canada...or she WAS, when I first posted this...but she's not now, so leave a review and be happy! _**


	11. The Dead Are Alive

**_Blah blah blah... _**

  
Disclaimer: Same as always. *sigh* 

Chapter Eleven: The Dead Are Alive 

All over the field, skeletons were standing, glowing an eerie green. Skeletons of all types; most of them demons, as well as the occasional hanyou or human. Rags and the occasional bit of torn, moldy flesh clung to their bones. Even Frogari looked disgusted. 

"Now that's interesting!" Faye exclaimed, "Yakusoku's somehow managed to bring up the bones of those who we buried here from past Tournaments! This _promises_ to get good!" 

A low growl erupted from Yakusoku's throat. 

"Oh, what's wrong?" Frogari asked in mock sympathy, "Is Yakusoku not happy with what he's done?" 

"SHUT UP!" Yakusoku roared. In a swift movement the edge of his scythe was against Frogari's throat. 

"If you want to live," Yakusoku growled, "Stop pissing me off." Frogari's eyes bulged, and he nodded. Yakusoku removed the scythe and planted it in the ground before smiling and eventually laughing. 

"What're you laughing about?" Kuwabara asked. 

"My summoning didn't go like it should have," Yakusoku answered, grinning like a madman, "Instead of summoning a few very powerful, Guardian Set, I have many skeletons that will attack at my command! Which is better, I wonder?" 

"Who cares?" Kuwabara asked, "No matter how many skeleton-thingies you have, you're still going to lose! SPIRIT SWORD--DOUBLE!" Twin beams of light shot into existence, one in each hand. Yakusoku's smile grew wider, and more mocking. He opened his mouth to say something, but a look of confusion crossed his face, and he cocked his head. 

"D'you hear screaming?" 

***

"BACK! BACK YOU FIEND!" Kzou slashed left and right with her two knives, while Niyali used her handy-dandy driftwood stick to further indent the skeletons' skulls. 

"THEY JUST KEEP COMING!" she yelled to Kozu. 

"SOMEBODY HEEEEEEEELP!!"

*** 

"I don't hear anything." 

"Hm." Yakusoku shrugged, "Maybe it was just my imagination." He pulled his scythe out of the ground and pointed it, blade first, at Kuwabara. 

"Skeletons, attack!" As one, the skeletons turned towards Kuwabara and advanced. Bones flew left and right as they came in contact with Kuwabara's Spirit Swords, but for every skeleton that became a useless heap of bones there was one more to take its place. 

Hiei smirked. 

"Idiot. He'll never defeat them that way." 

"What?" Yusuke and Arashi turned towards the small demon, "What do you mean?" 

"Think about it." The three of them looked to Kurama, who was watching Kuwabara intently. "For every skeleton he eliminates, Yakusoku calls up another. There have been too many Tournaments and deaths for him to run out before Kuwabara is exhausted." 

"So...the baka's going to lose?" Arashi asked, hopefully. 

"If he keeps this up," Hiei muttered. 

"But if he can stop Yakusoku from summoning any more, or from controlling them," Kurama continued, "He may have a chance." 

"COME ON, KUWABARA!" Yusuke yelled, turning back to the fight, "THINK OF SOMETHING!" 

"SHUT UP, URAMESHI! I CAN HANDLE THIS MYSELF!" Yakusoku smiled. 

"That's what they always say." He sighed, "Nobody's ever gotten further then this attack, even when it works properly." His scythe pulsed black as Kuwabara sliced through yet another skeleton. Kuwabara, half watching him and half concentrating on destroying the skeletons, noticed this. On a sudden impulse, he changed his course of action, pushing through the skeletons instead of letting them come to him. Yakusoku's eyes widened just a little bit. 

_:What is he doing? Oh, well, it doesn't matter, my skeletons will still destroy him--doesn't matter if it's later rather then--:_

"SPIRIT SWORD!" With the cry of his trademark move, Kuwabara's two swords molded into one. He brought it down with a battle cry, which turned into a cry of victory as it connected with something. 

_:What!?:_ "NO!" 

"WOW!" Faye exclaimed, "Kuwabara's somehow managed to fight his way through the skeletons and attack Yakusoku, cutting his scythe in half! I can't believe Yakusoku didn't see that coming!" 

"I DID see it coming!" 

"Then why didn't you block it?" Frogari asked. 

"Uh...that's just a technicality." Yakusoku dropped the two pieces of scythe and turned to face Kuwabara, who was grinning triumphantly. 

"Dumb luck," Yakusoku told him, "That's all it was." He raised his arm in the traditional stance for the Spirit Gun. 

A low growl escaped Yusuke's throat. 

"Mine..." 

"And they say foxes are overprotective." 

"What did you say, Kurama?" 

"Nothing." 

"SPIRIT GUN!" The black orb of Spirit Energy was released from Yakusoku's index finger. Kuwabara twirled his Spirit Sword and deflected it off into the trees, where it left yet another ruin in its wake. Yakusoku quickly followed with another Spirit Gun, which Kuwabara also deflected. This time, however, the orb hit the boulder at just an angle to blow a hole through the middle. It kept going, however, deep into the ground. The edges of the boulder crumbled and caved in, leaving a giant hole in the middle of the field. 

This time, however, no one could say they hadn't heard the screams. 

***

The skeletons finally backed off, and the girls were left standing in a pile of dirt and bones. Kozu's arms felt like they were going to fall off as she returned the knives to their hidden sheathes, and Niyali removed her energy from her stick and turned it back into a twig. Both were breathing hard, and bleeding from a few places. Niyali was muttering something, and Kozu was quite sure she caught "Minoru" and "stupid" several times, as well as many other not-so-nice words. 

"What makes you so sure Minoru did this?" she asked. 

"Stupid *&%$ was the ^(*&%$ one who got us caught here in the first *&!@ place," Niyali muttered. 

"Niyali! Language!" Niyali turned and glared at her. Kozu glared back. At the peak of their staring contest, there was an interruption in the form of an unusual noise. Kozu's ears twitched before she glanced up. Her eyes widened in disbelief and she gasped in shock and fear. 

"The boulder's caving in!" Having experienced this before, she ducked and covered. Niyali turned her face up and just stood there, staring at the falling rock before Kozu screamed her name and pulled her down. Neither one of them noticed the black orb that shot through their prison, shooting through one of the walls, which in turn started to cave in. As the first bits of dirt and pieces of rock landed upon their bodies, the girls screamed. 

***

"NIYALI!" Arashi screamed, "KOZU!" She would have run straight out on the battlefield if Hiei hadn't held her back. 

"STOP THE FIGHT!" Yusuke yelled, "THAT'S OUR TEAM MEMBERS TRAPPED IN THAT HOLE!" Kuwabara moved over towards the edge of the hole and looked down. All he saw was a massive pile of dirt and rock. But somebody had screamed... 

"WATCH OUT, KUWABARA!" 

"SPIRIT GUN!" Kuwabara looked up in time to see the black sphere coming right towards him. He brought his Spirit Sword up and twirled it to deflect it. But the sword just grazed the sphere as the sphere continued on its chosen path right into Kuwabara. The human was blown backwards by the force of the blast, slammed into a tree, and through the tree, finally landing on the ground where he lay, unmoving. 

"OUT OF THE RING!" Faye and Frogari exclaimed, at the same time, "ONE! TWO!..." 

"Come ON, Kuwabara, GET UP!" Yusuke yelled. 

"Five! Six!..." 

"Face it, he's not getting up." Yakusoku said, "Don't you remember how far the other blasts went?" 

"Nine! Ten! And Yakusoku is the winner by a ring-out!" Yakusoku smiled, waved to the non-existent audience and went back to his team. Yusuke raced over to where Kuwabara had landed, while the rest of the team headed over to the hole, Arashi dragging Hiei. 

"Hold on!" Faye exclaimed, "All of Team Urameshi has volunteered to fight in the next round! But only one of them came! Will they battle amongst themselves? But that would be stupid!" 

"Shut up," Hiei told her. Faye blinked. 

"Well that was rude." Arashi peered over the edge of the hole. Like Kuwabara, all she saw was a big pile of dirt and rocks, as well as the occasional bone. 

"I don't see them!" she whined, a bit of panic creeping into her voice. Hiei's Jagan flared under his bandana, and he frowned. 

"They're underneath all that." Kurama had long since jumped into the hole, and was working at clearing away the debris. Arashi leapt in to help, dragging Hiei after her. 

_:Please,:_ she thought, as she pushed a big rock to the side, _ :Please don't be dead...: _

***

Keep going... 


	12. Ashes, Ashes

**_Meep. _**

  
Disclaimer: We don't own Kasei Tombuddy. 

Chapter Twelve: Ashes, Ashes 

  
***  
_Death Isle Hotel: Room 10C_  
***

Botan, Shizuru, Keiko, and Yukina were sitting in the boys' hotel room, watching the match on TV. 

"This is bad," Keiko said, "Kuwabara's lost, the other team only needs two more wins!" 

"Calm down, Keiko, I'm sure they'll pull through," Botan comforted her. 

"What are they doing?" Yukina asked, as the camera showed Arashi, Yusuke, and Kurama digging in the hole, while Hiei argued with the announcers, "Shouldn't they be fighting?" Botan shrugged and the four of them continued to watch the screen. 

  
***_  
Battle Field_  
***

Dirt was clinging to her clothes. Bits of rock were tangled in her hair, caught in her sweater. But she didn't care. Niyali and Kozu were in there somewhere, trapped under all the rubble from the boulder. 

_:Please let them be alive,:_ she pleaded, in her head, _:They're my friends, please don't let them be dead...:_

"I found her!" Yusuke exclaimed. Arashi quickly turned to see him pulling someone out of the rubble. 

"KOZU!" Arashi abandoned her digging and raced over, nearly tripping on the loose dirt, but making her way there. "Is she all right? Tell me she's fine!" Kozu was limp in Yusuke's arms; dirt clinging to her, her clothing tattered and torn in many places, bruises and cuts all over. 

Arashi grabbed Kozu's arm and pressed her ear to the girl's chest. She let out a sigh of relief. 

"She's alive," she whispered. Yusuke exhaled in relief. Arashi turned to go back to her digging to see Kurama pulling Niyali out of the rubble. 

"NIYALI!" Arashi was over at Niyali's side in half a minute. Niyali wasn't in any better condition then Kozu; covered in bruises, cuts, and dirt, her clothing ripped and in terrible condition. Many of the plants on her head were broken or torn out completely. 

"Is she alive?" Arashi asked, eyes flickering up to Kurama's face, "Well? She is, isn't she?" When he didn't answer right away, she seized Niyali's wrist and felt for a pulse. There was none. 

"She's alive," Kurama said, after a long moment has passed. Arashi looked at him in confusion. 

"You're holding your fingers over her bone, not her artery," he said, and moved her hand over a bit, "Feel it?" Arashi nodded; now there was a steady pulse. Kurama picked Niyali up and began climbing out of the hole; Yusuke had already done so with Kozu and came to help. 

"Well, that's interesting!" Faye exclaimed, "It seems Team Urameshi has somehow managed to find their missing team members in the hole in the center of the field where the boulder used to be!" 

"Fascinating," Frogari muttered, "Can we get on with the match, please?" 

"Arashi, you go," Yusuke told her. 

"Why me? I want to stay here with Niyali and Kozu!" 

"They'll be fine," Kurama reminded her, "Go on." Arashi grumbled and walked to the center of the field, taking care not to fall in the hole. Her opponent was already waiting there. 

He was tall, clad in a black ninja costume. His spikey hair was the color of fire and his eyes were red. 

"Match 2, Arashi vs. Kasei Tombuddy," Faye said, "BEGIN!" 

"You know what," Arashi said, a split second later, "I don't like this mist. I keep stepping on round rocks and long sticks." He smiled. 

"I know what you mean. It's cold and wet." He shrugged, "Too bad none of us can do anything about it." 

"Oh, wait a second!" Arashi exclaimed, "I'm so stupid! I could've done something about it all along!" Closing her eyes, she gathered her ki and summoned a wind. The wind blew along the field, blowing the mist away. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds, warming up the competitors and the field. 

Arashi then realized what the rocks and sticks were. 

"BONES!" she screamed, leaping about a foot into the air, "I HATE BONES!" 

Her opponent chuckled. 

"As I've said numerous times before," Frogari said, "Less talk, MORE BLOOD!" 

"What _is_ it with you and your obsession with blood?" Arashi asked, turning to him, "It's sick! Gross! Wrong! It's--" 

"WHIP OF DARK EVIL FLAMES!" Arashi felt something graze her shoulder, and looked down in surprise to discover her sweater was on fire. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!! MY SWEATER'S ON FIRE!! PUT IT OUT PUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kasei laughed as she ran around in circles, waving her arms franticaly, her sweater burning. In his hands was a whip that seemed to be made entirely from black flames. The flames licked at his hand but he didn't seem to mind. 

"ARASHI, YOU BAKA!" Hiei roared, "YOU CONTROL THE WEATHER, DON'T YOU?" 

"PUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTPUTITOUTwhat?" 

"SO PUT IT OUT!" 

"OH! RIGHT!" Arashi stopped running in circles and conjured up a raincloud. The cloud hovered directly over her head and emptied its contents. The flames on her sweater extinguished. However, half of her sweater had turned to ash and crumbled off, revealing her light purple t-shirt underneath. 

"YOU BURNED MY SWEATER!" she shrieked, now soaking wet, "THAT WAS MY FAVORITE SWEATER!!!" 

Kasei shrugged. 

"We all lose something in battle." 

"THAT'S IT, MISTER, YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" 

***

**_And here's where I hate fanfiction.net again. We had a lovely little Merry Christmas party, with all the YYH people singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas, but noooooooo...it got remoooooooooved....I feel like a cow. Mooooooooooooooo... _**


	13. In the Space of a Minute

**Disclaimer: We don't own Akki. **

Chapter Thirteen: In the Space of a Minute 

*** 

"EW! What the heck is that?" 

"It's a revival drink," Kurama explained, as he lifted Kozu to pour the greyish colored drink into her mouth, "It should awaken them in time for them to fight in the next round." 

"Shouldn't we let them sleep?" Kuwabara asked. Having woken up sometime in the space when Arashi's sweater was on fire, he had been dismayed to find he'd lost, and was now sitting upright, watching Kurama tend to Kozu and Niyali. 

"I wish we could," Kurama admitted, sighing, "But we all have to fight in this round." 

"Oh." Kozu spluttered and choked, finally opening her eyes and coughing outright. 

"That was disgusting!" she exclaimed, "What the heck was that?" 

"A revival drink," Kurama told her, "How're you feeling?" She shrugged. 

"Like a couple of pounds of rocks hit me," she laughed. Next to her, Niyali gagged and woke up, bolting upright and choking, finally spitting on the ground next to her. 

"You see why I don't use this very often," Kurama told Kuwabara, "It gets the job done, but it's got a nasty aftertaste." 

"You tell me," Niyali muttered, "Ew ew ew...I think I'm going to throw up..." 

"Hey!" Kozu noticed, "It's Arashi!" 

"Boy, she seems pissed," Niyali noticed, "What did---oh no. Her sweater." 

"RUN WHILE YOU CAN, BUB!" Kozu screamed to Kasei, "ARASHI TREASURES HER SWEATER MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD!" 

"Except Hiei!" Arashi yelled back. 

"EXCEPT HIEI!" Kozu corrected. 

Kasei ignored her. 

"What she said," Arashi snapped, "And you're going to pay for ruining my sweater!" With a push of her hand, the cloud over her head sailed over to Kasei, turning grey as it did so. Once it reached him, it emptied its contents, soaking him and dousing the flames of his whip; which crumbled to nothing. 

"So there," Arashi said, sticking her tongue out at him. 

"That's a turn-around!" Faye exclaimed, "It seems Arashi's the type of person to hold a grudge; she's disabled Kasei's weapon in turn for him ruining her sweater! But where's the action? The excitement! The--" 

"Blood!" Frogari interrupted. 

"ENOUGH WITH THE BLOOD ALREADY!" 

"..." 

Kasei pulled out a sword and moved into a fighting stance. 

"So that's how you want to play, eh?" Arashi asked. Digging around in what was left of her sweater pocket, she produced a balloon, which like everything else she had, was purple. Holding it to her mouth, she blew into it. Kasei raised an eyebrow. 

"What the...?" 

"You'll see," Arashi said, casually rubbing the now-inflated balloon against her sweater. She held it up, looked at it critcially, shrugged, and then threw it in the air. It caught on a sudden rush of wind, was flown over to Kasei, and promptly blew up. 

"COOL!" Faye exclaimed, "It's a balloon that's filled with static electricity...then when it comes in contact with another being it blows up! AWESOME!" 

Kasei coughed, part of his shirt blown up. His face and hair now had that I've-been-in-an-explosion look (think Merry and Pippin from the Lord of the Rings after they set off Gandalf's firework, if you need an example). He barely had time to register what had happened before another one of the balloons came flying over and blew up in his face. 

"They're not real dangerous, though," Arashi said, sadly, "I don't like to blow things up except balloons, so they don't cause much damage." 

Kasei didn't wait for her to send another one after him. Lunging forward, he swung his sword in an arc. Arashi shot straight up into the air and sat there, watching him swing his sword at her and try to hit her. She rolled her eyes and called up another cloud, this one full of lighting. Reaching her hand into it, she pulled out a bit of lighting, straightened it, and dropped it. Kasei had only a second to look up before the bolt hit him, coursing through him to the ground. He screamed, dropping his sword, which Arashi promptly flew down and picked up, throwing it far into the trees so he couldn't use it again. Kasei fell to his knees and finally the ground, twitching in agony as the electricity channeled through him, that bit that hadn't gone directly into the earth swirling around in his body, causing him excruciating pain. 

"And he's down!" Frogari exclaimed, "Ten count! One! Two! Three!..." 

"YAY ARASHI!" Kozu and Niyali cheered, "YOU BEAT HIM! YOU BEAT HIM!!" 

"Ten! Arashi is the winner!" 

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Kozu and Niyali ran out onto the field, bruises and other injuries completely forgotten and embraced their friend happily, ignoring the little lighting bolts that were dancing around Arashi. Arashi hugged them back. 

The three of them headed back to the rest of their team, laughing and sharing joy. 

"Who's going to fight next?" Kuwabara asked, immediately. 

"I will," Kozu and Niyali said, at the same time. The two of them exchanged a look. 

"Hn. Let Kozu fight," Hiei said, "She'd probably do a better job." 

"What did you say?" Arashi and Niyali squeaked. Niyali turned to face him. 

"Why would she do better then me?" Hiei ignored her. 

"That's no reason," Niyali said, and suddenly got an idea that was probably not one of her better ones, "I bet I could beat whoever it is I'm fighting faster then you've ever won a match." Hiei turned to glare at her. 

"Don't be stupid. If you want to be faster then I've done, you'll have to beat them in under a minute." 

"A minute to win?" Niyali said, and looked away when he nodded, "Uh-ok." 

"Niyali, are you sure about that?" Kurama asked, "A minute goes by faster then you think." 

"Shut up...I can do it. I think." Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she walked out onto the field. 

"What about the stakes?" Kozu asked, "If it's a bet, there's gotta be something involved!" Arashi elbowed her sharply. "OW!" 

"What if we just didn't have stakes?" Yusuke suggested. 

"Where's the fun in that?" Niyali asked him, turning around, "Besides, I know what mine's going to be. Hiei has to give up sweet snow for the rest of the Tournament!" Hiei's eyes narrowed as he glared at her. 

"One week. If it takes you over a minute, you put your hands in one of my flames." 

"HIEI!" Arashi gasped, "That's mean!" He glared at her. Niyali's eyes widened at the mention of flame and she stared blankly at Hiei for a moment. 

"Don't do it, Niyali!" Kozu said, "You can't!" Niyali blinked before nodding slowly, turning and walking to the center of the ring. But fear was evident in her body. 

"You knew she'd take it," Arashi said, to Kozu, "Her pride won't let her back down from a challenge, especially if it's a fire demon and even if it involves flame." 

"I know," Kozu sighed, "I hope she can do it." Arashi was torn; should she cheer for Hiei or her bestest-best friend? Trust Niyali to go and put her in this dilemma. Stupid girl... 

"Next match, Niyali vs. Akki!" Frogari narrated. Akki was a red-haired, green-eyed, black-clothed, five foot six girl, who watched Niyali with a calm confidence. Niyali stared back up at her, her posture sure of herself, but her eyes wavering with fear. 

"And...LET'S FIGHT!" Faye exclaimed. 

Niyali quickly pulled a twig out of her hair and backflipped away from her opponent. In mid-flip, she transferred her energy into the twig, turning it into her familiar flute. Raising it to her lips, she blew into it, played a quick running scale before launching into a lively tune. 

Kuwabara blinked. 

"I didn't anybody could play that fast," he said, stunned. 

"This isn't good," Arashi whimpered. 

"She's going too fast," Kozu whispered, "She's going to mess up." Niyali watched Akki out of one eye, the other focusing on placing her fingers over the right holes at the right times. The melody flowed on, somehow conveying a sense of fear and peace intertwined, however small that sense was. 

"45 seconds," Kurama muttered, looking at his watch. Akki, however, wasn't going to wait for the song to end. She drew a sword and leapt for Niyali, bringing the sword up and down. Niyali skipped backwards, but the effort in doing so made her take an extra breath, missing three measures of the song. Akki's sword grazed her torso, running in a straight, vertical line from the bottom of Niyali's neck to her stomach. The two pieces of flute fell from Niyali's hand, and she froze, staring at Akki in a blind whirlwind of confusion. 

"15 seconds." Quickly, Niyali whistled a run and a few random notes, holding the last one out for a fraction of a second. Even as she ended, Akki raised the sword, prepared to swing it again, this time for Niyali's neck. 

"ODE OF OBLIVION!" The words bursted unheeded from Niyali's lips, and all the notes she had played came back in a rush of sound, wrapping around Akki, moving through her, cutting into her heart and her soul. In a mere second, the noise ended, and Akki was gone. Simply gone. 

"And Akki's mysteriously disappeared from the ring!" Frogari narrated, "Ten count! One! Two! Three!" 

_:Count faster,:_ Niyali, Arashi, and Kozu thought, simultaneously. "Seven! Eight! Nine! TEN! And Niyali is the winner!" Niyali bent to pick up the two pieces of her flute and walked back to her team. 

"So?" She asked, at the same time Arashi, Kozu, Kuwabara, and Yusuke did. Hiei only "hn"ed. 

"So what?" Kurama asked. 

"Who won?" He shrugged and shook his head. 

"No one did." 

_"What?"_

"It was an exact minute." Niyali and Hiei turned to glare at each other. Arashi looked from one to the other before smiling widely. 

"That's great! Neither one of you has to do _anything_!" She flung one arm around each of them and pulled them into one-armed hugs. Hiei quickly pushed her away from him, causing the two girls to fall, Arashi landing on top of Niyali. Niyali screamed and pushed Arashi off of her. 

"Hiei, that wasn't very nice!" Arashi moaned, reaching out a hand to pull Niyali off the ground. Niyali gladly accepted the help, and pulled her now two-piece sweater off, revealing a plain blue T-shirt underneath. Akki's sword had gotten snagged on her sweater, so her T-shirt (as well as her) was unharmed. 

"MY TURN!" Kozu shrieked, "I've been waiting to fight in one of these Tournaments for _years_!" Without any more words, she had abandoned them in favor of the field and the battle that awaited her. 

***

**_End of chapter...let's keep reading because there's a Chapter Fourteen up on the site... _**


	14. Angelic Devils

**Disclaimer: We don't own Midnight...anybody getting the picture we don't own anything? **

Chapter Fourteen: Angelic Devils 

"Uh, hey guys?" 

"GO KOZU!" 

"Guys?" 

"GO KOZU!" 

"GUYS!" The two girls finally stopped cheering Kozu and turned to Kuwabara, who had been trying to get their attention for the past few minutes. 

"How good is Kozu?" 

"What kind of question is _that_?" They asked, at the same time. 

"Reasonable," Kuwabara snapped, "So? Can she win?" 

"What kind of question is _that_?" 

"Stop it." 

"What kind of question is _that_?" 

"That was a _statement_." 

"...what kind of _statement_ is that?" 

"Forget it," Kuwabara sighed. The girls exchanged a grin. 

"She's good enough to get the job done," Arashi said, proudly. 

"Yeah," Niyali added. 

"And she can most certainly do a better battle then you," Arashi added. 

"Yeah!" 

"WHAT?" The two of them squeaked and ran off, Niyali hiding behind Kurama and Arashi behind Hiei, both of them peeking out at Kuwabara, who was glaring at them. Arashi, of course, immediately began huggling Hiei, who wasn't very enthused about that. Niyali was careful to keep Kurama between her and Kuwabara. 

"Is that who she's fighting?" Yusuke gasped, staring into the middle of the field. 

"No way!" Kuwabara exclaimed, squabble with the girls forgotten, "She's---she's---undescribable!" 

While Kuwabara may not have been able to describe her, somebody else certainly would be. Kozu's opponent was beautiful. She was tall, with quite an amazing figure. Her black shirt with its picture of a cat looked too small on her, as it clung to her chest and ended at least two inches above her waist, showing her belly button. She wore tight-fitting black pants, and narrow, high-heeled boots that looked impossible to walk in. Her hair tumbled down to her waist in a jet-black waterfall, and her brown eyes sparkled with spirit and humor. In fact, perhaps a better word to describe her would be seductive. 

"WOW!" Frogari exclaimed, "HELLO MISS JAPAN!!" In an instant, he'd sidled his way over to her and laid a hand on her arm. "So, Gorgeous, what're you doing tonight?" She stared at him before bringing up her hand to smack his away. 

"I don't go out with the hired people," she stated, "Besides, tonight I have plans for celebrating my team's victory. I might add--" and her eyes sparkled mischievously, "--with my boyfriend." Frogari face-falled, tears of disappointment running down his face. 

"Midnight, this is no time to get sassy," one of her team members called, "Just win the battle and let's get on with it!" Midnight rolled her eyes. 

"Please. I know what I'm doing. Oh?" She seemed to notice Kozu for the first time, and bent down, placing her hands on her knees, "And who would you be?" 

"My name is Kozu," Kozu stated, "And your team's right--you've got a fight to lose." 

"Spunky," Midnight said, straighting up, "I like spunky girls--they remind me of me!" She laughed. 

"I don't like her," Niyali stated. Arashi nodded her agreement sharply. 

"She's too..." Arashi struggled to think of the right words, "Flashy." 

"Sexy," Niyali added, at the same time. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kuwabara mumbled, staring dreamily at Midnight. The girls rolled their eyes. 

"Can we get on with this, please?" Kozu asked, as polite as she could get. Midnight smiled. 

"Right away." At once, there was a great rumble as the earth shook beneath their feet. At the same time, a great gust of wind blew through the field, and the skies opened up, pouring down rain that quenched the little fires peeking up out of the grass. The grass itself grew, becoming more flexible and longer, twining around Kozu, pinning her to the spot. 

"Show off," Arashi muttered. Niyali was staring wide-eyed at Midnight. 

"She can control the elements?" she squeaked, "This isn't good!" 

Kozu jerked at the blades, trying to free herself. This was embarassing--not even a minute into the fight and she was already stuck. 

_:Ok. Stay calm. Think. There's got to be a way out of this...:_

:But what if there isn't?: asked a little voice in her head. She'd never heard that before---where had it come from? 

_:It will be!:_ she declared, jerking her arms upwards in a failed attempt, _:Just let me think of---ah ha!:_ As she had jerked her arms up, one of her hidden daggers fell out, slicing through the blade of grass holding that arm. Unable to bend her legs, she concentrated hard; the blade leapt into her outstretched hand and she quickly sliced through the rest of her bonds before summoning a gust of wind to take her to the air. 

"YAY KOZU!!!" Arashi and Niyali screamed. 

Kozu, like Arashi, seemed to prefer floating in the air. She crossed her legs, staring down at her opponent until she remembered something. 

Midnight could control the air. 

"DARN IT!" Invisible bonds flowed out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around her, binding her arms and legs tightly to her body. Her daggers wouldn't help her here; they couldn't slice air in half. 

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pausing, "She can control plants _and_ air?" 

"And water, and fire," Arashi added, fearfully, "All the elements." 

"So no matter what Kozu does, she'll have a comeback?" Arashi nodded, eyes fixed on Kozu. Niyali was screaming Kozu's name at the top of her lungs, yelling for her to do something. 

"I'M...TRYING!" Kozu called on her abilities with wind, however minimal they were, and pulled on her restraints. They loosened, ever so gradually, and she was finally able to pull herself free. 

Quickly, before Midnight could call upon any more of her abilities, Kozu pulled out her other dagger and, holding one in each hand, zoomed down to attack. 

"GYRPHON--STRIKE!" was her battle cry, as she pulled out of the dive to slash at Midnight. The daggers crackled with electricity and Midnight only barely made it out of the way. Kozu swerved around and charged again. But Midnight had recovered, and Kozu's daggers clattered to the ground as the bonds of air wrapped themselves around her again. Kozu shot upwards and hovered in one place, arms and legs once again tightly bound to her side. 

"Stupid...things..." she growled, struggling fiercely. 

"KOZU WATCH OUT!" A fist connected with Kozu's cheek, and her head recoiled on her neck. When she recovered and turned to look, her eyes widened in brief surprise before a foot connected with her midsection. 

Midnight could fly. 

"Amazing!" Frogari exclaimed, tilting his head backwards as Faye zoomed up to catch the action herself, "In addition to controlling the elements and having the body of a God, it seems Midnight can also fly! She's using Kozu like a punching bag, and the poor thing can't even retaliate with her arms and legs bound helplessly to her side! The only question is how much can she take?" 

Voices rang out, screaming Kozu's name as Team Urameshi watched helplessly from below. Tears were streaming freely down the girls' faces as they watched, unable to do anything. 

_:Stupid...how can this happen?:_ Kozu thought, in horror, _:I thought I was better then this! I can't lose now...I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!!: _"ROSE STORM!" With a sudden flare of her energy, rose petals burst seemingly out of nowhere, rushing in a whirlwind towards Midnight. Many of them struck, leaving small cuts where they touched. Midnight shrieked and flew to the left; the rose petals followed her. 

"NOT SO COCKY NOW, ARE YOU?" Kozu roared, laughing. While Midnight was occupied, she summoned her powers of air and pulled her binds apart before wrapping a shield around herself. Now no bonds could restrain her; they couldn't even reach her through her shield of air. Kozu floated gently down to the ground as Midnight landed there herself, her clothes cut in many places, blood streaming from many little cuts. 

"Nice," Yusuke commented. 

"She's just like Kurama!" Kuwabara exclaimed, "With her Rose whirlwind thingie, next thing you know she'll be pulling out---" 

"ROSE WHIP!" Kuwabara didn't need to finish his sentence; Kozu had produced a rose and transformed it into the same thorny whip Kurama used. 

"She's like a clone!" Yusuke said. Kurama didn't say anything. 

Midnight leapt backwards as Kozu swung at her with the whip. She smiled slyly. 

"This has been fun," she called, to Kozu, "But I think it's time we ended this!" 

"I agree!" Kozu agreed, swinging her whip and giving chase. Midnight stretched out a hand and Kozu's whip stopped in mid-air. 

"What the--?" The whip turned and whipped back towards Kozu, piercing through her barrier since she was holding it and wrapping tightly around her, the thorns puncturing her arms, back, and chest and drawing blood. 

"You forgot," Midnight said, "I can control plants, too." Kozu quickly pulled her energy out of the whip, and it reduced to a white rose; which she quickly stored in her hair. Midnight quickly advanced and struck Kozu on the head; the girl fell to the ground, out like a light. 

"ON THE GROUND!" Frogari exclaimed, "Ten count!" 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Arashi and Niyali wailed, "GET UP!!" 

"Six! Seven!" 

"KOZUUUUUUUUUUU!" 

"Nine! Ten! And Midnight is the winner!" Arashi and Niyali raced out onto the field, picking up their unconscious friend and gently carrying her back to Team Urameshi. But they didn't stop there. 

"We're taking her back to the hotel room," Arashi called over her shoulder, "She needs to rest!" 

"One of them should go with them," Yusuke said, "Make sure they don't get lost." 

"I'll go," Kuwabara said, starting forwards, "You guys make sure you win, okay?" At Yusuke's nod, he raced after the little girls, "Hey guys, wait up!" 

"So," Yusuke sighed, turning to Kurama and Hiei, "Who's fighting next?" 

***

**_Blah Blah Blah...spoiler, anybody? _**

Next time! We'll get a look at the rest of Team Kokushibyou, and the match will continue! The score is currently tied at 2, neither team can afford to lose...well, actually, they can but that's not the point!   
Anyway, it's Kurama's turn to fight, and he's up against a demon with some really nasty powers. And we mean nasty...he's in for a tough time, because this guy can produce gases that paralyze, poison, put to sleep, or even turn back time. And we all know what that means...yes, it's disgusting, it's familiar, and the chapter's up, so hit the button and let's move on! 


	15. Gas Masks, Anyone?

**Disclaimer: We don't own Aretesia or Zaraya. **

Claimer: We own Nezume! 

Chapter Fifteen: Gas Masks, Anyone? 

"Poor Kozu," Yukina breathed, staring at the TV, "I hope she'll be all right." 

"We have to do something!" Keiko shrieked, "What if the rest of their team is as tough as that? Yusuke doesn't stand a chance!" 

"Calm down, Keiko," Botan said, putting her hand on Keiko's arm, "Yusuke's a tough fighter; he'll pull through. Don't worry about him." 

"We'll win this battle just like all the others," Shizuru predicted, leaning back. 

"There you go!" Botan exclaimed, "Having a positive attitude always helps!" 

The door burst open, and the three girls came rushing in, Arashi and who they assumed was Niyali carrying Kozu. Kuwabara came in a moment later, shutting the door behind him, grumbling about something or other. 

"I still don't see--hey! Yukina! Sis! What're you doing here?" 

"Watching the fights, silly," Botan filled him in. 

"That's great hey Yukina d'you think you could heal Kozu? The girls are really upset about her--they keep worrying she's going to die and stuff like that." 

"Of course; I'd be happy to." Yukina stood up and followed the girls into the girls bedroom. They had laid Kozu out on her bed and looked up when Yukina entered. 

"Who're you?" Niyali asked, almost immediately. 

"I am Yukina," Yukina told her, "I'm going to heal Kozu for you." Placing her hands on Kozu's still form, she let her energy run through the girl, healing all her various bruises and scrapes and what may have been a broken bone or two. 

"She's not going to die, is she?" Arashi asked, peeking around Yukina. 

"Of course not," Yukina assured her absentmindedly. "There. She'll be as good as new when she wakes up." 

"THANK YOU!" The next thing she knew, she was the object of two fierce hugs, one from each of the girls, "YOU HEALED HER! YOU HEALED HER!" Yukina laughed softly and used her sense of wounds to heal the two girls themselves; which was mostly Niyali's scrapes and stuff from the rock collapsing. The girls gave her another quick squeeze before heading out of the room, glancing one last time at Kozu. Yukina followed them, closing the door behind her. 

***

"So the score is tied," Zaraya stated, staring across the field to where the three members of Team Urameshi who remained talked amongst themselves. She glanced back at her own team. Yakusoku was chatting animatedly with Kasei, who was sitting on the ground, a litle bit singed in every place. Midnight was casually leaning against a tree, looking really bored but also a bit smug with herself. Akki was long gone, and the two other members, Nezume and Aretesia, seemed to be involved in their own conversation. None of them paid their Captain any attention. 

Nezume was almost as tall as her 6 feet, but was a lot different. He was a mouse demon, and still retained most of the mouse traits. He sprouted slender whiskers from his face; and golden-brown mouse ears poked out of his golden-brown hair which hung to his shoulders. His eyes were brown, warm, and knowledgable. As of now, he had his arms folded across his chest, which was covered in a tan t-shirt. He wore brown pants and had a gold sweater tied casually around his waist, but no shoes. 

Aretesia was perhaps as different as you could get. She was a little shorter than him, and her hair was long, almost black shade of brown that she tied back in a ponytail, her bangs framing her face. Her skin was extremely pale, her eyes a gray-ish aquamarine. She was dressed in a white robe, and underneath it (though you couldn't really see it) she wore a gray tunic over a white shirt and loose white hose. Very different from Nezume. 

"Ne-zu-may," Zaraya called. He didn't hear her. 

"Nezu-maaaay!" Either he didn't hear her, or he was ignoring her. She frowned. 

"NE-ZU-ME!!!" She yelled, pronouncing his name carefully. At last, his head shot up. 

"Yes?" 

"You're up." He shrugged. 

"Fine. Wish me luck, Aretesia?" Aretesia smiled, amused, but said nothing. Nezume shrugged, stuck his hands in his pockets and walked towards the center of the field, where his opponent was already waiting. 

"Match 5, Nezume vs. Kurama!" Faye exclaimed, "...let's fight!" 

Nezume immediately skipped to the left. Kurama took a step that way, and Nezume swiftly switched to the right. As Kurama turned to look, he darted forwards so he had to turn more, and then left more, finally running an entire circle around him before proceeding to do it again. 

"And Nezume's started out the match by running circles around Kurama!" Frogari observed, "He's so fast Kurama can hardly keep up; either that or he's not bothering to; which would be kind of stupid!" 

"Woah he's fast!" Yusuke exclaimed, taking an involuntary step backwards. 

"Hn. He's just playing around. Kurama knows this--he's waiting." 

Kurama watched Nezume as carefully as he could. He knew this was some sort of ploy--nobody ran around their opponent pointlessly while they could still attack at full strength. Unless he couldn't? Maybe there was some reason holding him back...but that wouldn't make sense...even as he thought, Nezume raced once more around him, his circle becoming wider and wider until he was running right on the edge of the hole that still existed on the battlefield. And as luck would have it, he slipped, falling into the hole. 

"That's bad luck!" Frogari exclaimed, running over to take a peek, "You don't think he can fly, do you?" But before he reached there, there was a small "pop", and an orange gas began leaking out of the hole. Frogari took a small sniff and began giggling insanely. Kurama stared at him, trying to puzzle this out. 

"This is odd!" Faye remarked, "It seems my coworker has suddenly been seized by a laughing fit! This is extremely un--un--" Her sentence cut off as the gas expanded in all directions, reaching her where she hovered, sending her into a laughing fit as well. She rolled over backwards in mid-air, clutching her stomach and laughing hard. Kurama's eyes widened slightly as he finally got it. 

_:Laughing gas!:_ He took a deep breath and covered his nose and mouth with his arm, trying not to breathe in the fumes. 

The gas was a light tickle on his uncovered skin, brushing at his clothes and hair as some of it went by, the other particles remaining in the air around him. 

Something hit him unexpectedly in the stomach, and all the air he'd been holding rushed out of him. Involuntarily he took a breath. 

After a moment, there was a sound like a vacuum cleaner, and all the gas was blown off into the trees, not touching any of those waiting on the side to fight. As the area cleared, Yusuke was surprised and not a little bit confused. Everybody on the field was..._laughing_. Frogari was rolling on the ground, laughing his head off. Faye, still in the air, clutched her stomach, tears of laughter running down her face. And Kurama was laughing just as hard as they were, on his knees, clutching his stomach as well, eyes squeezed tight. 

"Hn," Hiei smirked, "I've never seen Kitsune so amused." There was a light snicker, and that was when the two of them noticed Nezume, standing on the edge of the hole, a long strand of wheat in his hand, smiling. 

"Oh," Frogari gasped, still laughing, "Oh---ne-haha--next time---heehee--let's put---hahahaha!--a barrier around---heeheeHAHAHA!!!--the field---hahahaha---so it doesn't---heheheh--affect those of us---HAHAHAHA!!!!---not FIGHTING!!" And he burst into laughter again. 

"Wonderful idea," Midnight called, from the sidelines, "I'll see to it myself." She raised her hands. 

"WAITWAIT!" Frogari exclaimed, laughing forgotten, as he scrambled to his feet and made a bolt for the edge of the field, "WAIT UNTIL I'M OUT OF--" his sentence was cut off as he slammed into an invisible wall and slid down it, his microphone once again falling out of his hand. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," Faye apologized, wiping tears out of her eyes, "I don't know what came over me. But whatever it was, it came over Frogari and Kurama as well! In fact, I think Kurama's still laughing---" 

"SNAP OUT OF IT, KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled. Kurama heard him, but his words never registered in his brain. He was clutching his stomach in hysterical agony, unable to move or even speak. The only noises he made were the occasional half-choking noises and small "tee-hees" as he tried to breathe. 

But finally, though, the laughing fit passed, and he knelt there, gasping for breath. Ow...his stomach hurt from all that laughing, and he thought his face would crack if he grinned any wider. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, forcing himself to be calm. 

Kurama was just getting to his feet when he heard yet another small "pop" and he looked up in time to see a yellow mist spread from Nezume's mouth. 

"Well, this stinks!" Faye exclaimed, from her position above the barrier. Actually, she was laying on top of it, feet kicking lazily in the air as she watched the fight below her. Or, rather, the cloud of yellow gas that was swirling inside the barrier, "Nezume's covered the field in a yellow gas--and I can't see a single thing!" Suddenly, she sat upright, "Wait a minute people, I think I'm getting a connection! His last gas made people laugh, so this one must do something else! The only question is, what will it do?" She leapt onto her feet as she got another thought. "WAIT!! Frogari's inside there! He can tell us what's going on! Hey, Frogari, what's this gas do?" 

"Ow..." came Frogari's voice, "...this is rather uncomfortable...I can't reach my microphone..." 

"So get up and pick it up!" Faye exclaimed, squirming with excitement, "Then tell us what this does!" 

"I can't," Frogari moaned. 

"Why not?" 

"...can't move...YOU'RE ALL LUCKY THE MICROPHONE IS NEAR MY MOUTH OR YOU'D HAVE TO WAIT 'TIL THE GAS CLEARED! GOOD LORD I HOPE THAT'S SOON!! This stuff burns my throat..." 

Yusuke stared, open-mouthed at the bubble of yellow smoke that was in the center of the field. Kurama was in there...if Frogari couldn't move, then what about... 

At last there was another noise like a vacuum cleaner, and the gas was sucked into the strand of wheat Nezume was holding in his hands. Yusuke froze as his brain took in what he saw. 

Kurama was frozen in place, half facing them, in quite an unusual position. His right leg was still kneeling on the ground, while his left was crouching, left hand an inch from the ground while his right seemed to be pushing himself up. He had been frozen in the act of getting to his feet. 

But if Kurama's position was bad, Frogari's was worse. The poor thing had slid down the invisible wall once he collided, and had lain on his back for a moment before beginning to get back up. As a normal person gets up when they've fallen flat on their face, his rear end was in the air, his elbows tucked in about to push himself up, head turned towards his microphone, which thankfully lay next to him on the ground, turned towards him. 

"Paralyzation gas," Nezume chuckled, "Or as I like to call it, the Gas of Stone!" 

"You do realize that's an oxymoron," Kurama stated, as calm as he could be under the circumstances. 

"He's not frozen!" Yusuke exclaimed, in semi-disbelief. Nezume heard him. 

"Don't be a fool," he called to the Spirit Detective, "The Gas of Stone freezes all parts of my opponent except their mouth and eyes. That way they can still see my attacks when they come--but they can't do a thing about it!" He laughed. 

"Somebody tell me what's going on!" Frogari moaned. 

"Nothing much," Faye sighed, "Kurama's frozen on the ground, Nezume is explaining what his attack does, blah blah--wait! Kurama's on the ground! Frogari, quick! Take a ten count!" 

"Why me?" Frogari moaned. 

"Because it's your job!" He sighed. 

"One...two..." Nezume frowned. 

"Now, we can't have that," he commented, "I like to toy with my opponents a bit before I beat them." 

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Yusuke muttered. 

"...four..." Frogari was still counting, "...five..." 

Nezume began to glow. But the color was off; what kind of demon glowed _sparkly pink_? Even as they watched, Nezume opened his mouth and a sparkly pink gas flowed out of it, and soon he and Kurama were engulfed in a sparkly pink cloud. For some reason, the cloud didn't go any further than that. 

"...six...is he up yet?...seven..." 

"ROSE WHIP!" There was the familiar crack of a whip and a cry of pain. The sparkly pink gas was sucked back into Nezume's strand of wheat, and this time, the scene was different. 

Frogari was still on the ground, but Kurama was now on his feet, thorny whip in hand. Nezume was still holding his wheat, but blood spurted from a long gash on his arm, dripping onto the ground, and glaring at Kurama. 

"YEAH!" Yusuke exclaimed, joyous that his friend could move again. 

"Okay..." Frogari said, "Uh...I'm going to stop counting now...the fight can continue...right Faye?" 

"What? Oh, right! It seems Kurama's gotten back on his feet, and I'm not sure what that sparkly pink gas was about but I don't think it really matters! Anyway, let the battle continue!" 

"Stupid human," Nezume spat, "You're going to regret that!" He began to glow again, this time a bright yellow. Kurama didn't wait for him to begin releasing his gas. He charged forwards and swung his whip. Nezume stepped nimbly to the side, still glowing. 

"That was a mistake!" He laughed, "You're going to feel very sorry you did that!" He inhaled deeply and as he exhaled, a yellow mist came out from his mouth, surrounding him and Kurama. 

"NOT AGAIN!" Yusuke moaned, "He already used this!" Sure enough, when the gas was sucked back into Nezume's wheat, Kurama was frozen in place, an expression of pure hatred on his face as he glared at Nezume, who was laughing. 

"Didn't think I'd use it again, did you?" Nezume laughed, "Come on, now, the only reason I used my healing gas was to get you off the ground and standing! Then you couldn't be counted out and I could have some more fun before I beat you!" And he was right; for the second time in that match, Kurama couldn't move. 

"KURAMA!" Yusuke yelled, "THINK OF SOMETHING!" 

***  
_Death Isle Hotel; Room 10C_  
***

"I don't like that mouse guy," Kuwabara muttered, "He's too creepy." 

"I thought mice were supposed to be cute and cuddly," Niyali sighed, "All the mice I ever met were." 

"They tried to bite me," Arashi grumbled sullenly. 

"What's going on?" Kozu had appeared at the doorway to the girls bedroom, blinking sleepily. 

"KOZU!" Arashi and Niyali exclaimed, getting up and racing over to her, "How are you?" 

"Fine," Kozu replied, "What's going on?" 

"Kurama's fighting an evil mouse," Arashi explained, as the two led her back to the TV and the chairs/sofas surrounding it. There were three sofas and one TV...the three sofas formed two right angles facing it. Kuwabara and Yukina sat on one of the smaller ones while Botan, Keiko, and Shizuru sat on the larger sofa directly facing the TV. Arashi and Kozu took the remaining one and Niyali settled on the floor. 

"Why doesn't Kurama attack?" Kozu asked, "He's just standing there." 

"He can't," Arashi explained, "Nezume paralyzed him." 

"Oh." The eight of them fell into silence as they watched, each of them wondering how on earth Kurama was going to pull this off. 

***  
_Battle Field_  
***

Nezume laughed as he listened to Yusuke yelling at Kurama to do something. 

"It's hopeless," he told his prey, "You'll never be able to get to me--I've got you cornered, and there's nothing you can do about it!" He began to walk in a slow circle around Kurama, watching with supressed glee as his eyes shifted to track his movements. 

"This is amazing!" Faye exclaimed, "Nezume's got Kurama paralyzed again, and now he's walking circles around his opponent! He could attack at any time, and Kurama wouldn't be able to do a single thing about it!" Kurama wished she would shut up; he was trying to concentrate. He couldn't get a Death Seed into Nezume--he was too far away. He could grow his Rose Whip and wrap it around his hair--but he couldn't move his head. Dang it! This was unheard of--a fox cornered by a mouse! 

"All right," Nezume sighed, moving into his full line of vision, "Let's make this a bit more interesting, shall we?" He began to glow again; this time a shade of blue. Kurama could only watch and hold his breath as blue gas flowed out of Nezume's nose, filling the enclosed area and blocking his sight. He heard Frogari's strangled cry, and Nezume's laughter (he spent too much time laughing), but it wasn't until he couldn't hold his breath anymore and inhaled that he realized what this blue mist did. 

Maybe he had a chance after all. 

  
*****__**

Alrighty then...couple of points I need to hit.   
1)NEVER get a story idea before a big essay is due.   
2)The story mentioned in 1) is up, so go read and review it!   
3)If anybody_ would like to join a Story Chain, please email me and I'll explain what it's all about. 4)If anybody knows of a good fanfiction, in any subject that I happen to know about (Inuyasha, YuYuHakusho, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc.), would you email it to us? I need something good to read... _

And that's it! Spoilerness, and then you can all make me happy by hitting the review button!...or not.

Next time! It's still Nezume vs. Kurama, and it looks like Kurama still can't move! But the fox has a trick up his sleeve, and instead of mouse catching fox it may just be the other way around... 


	16. Childish Games

**_If ANYBODY wants to join a story chain, email me! Please! _**

Disclaimer: We don't own...stuff. 

  
Chapter Sixteen: Childish Games 

* * *

  
***_  
Death Isle Hotel; Room 10A_  
*** 

"So how's it going?" 

"Can't see a darned thing," Yamiko answered, squinting at the TV, where the battle between Team Urameshi and Team Kokushibyou was on, "Stupid Nezume's using too much fog." Sapphire sat down next to her and handed her a drink. Yamiko took it without looking. 

"It's entirely too familiar," Shishiwakamaru said casually, sitting on a nearby sofa. 

"How's it familiar, Shishi?" Inumiko asked, snuggled comfortably against him. The only reason Shishi (because Shishiwakamaru's too long to type, we'll call him that) was in the room was because of his close relationship with Inumiko...very close. Right now, the two of them seemed as if they were perfectly content. 

"I've seen this before," Shishi replied, "Well, sort of. At least twice, actually." 

"Be more specific," Inumiko demanded. 

"I'm not sure," Shishi said, slowly, "But it looks to me like the same sort of stuff that Suzaku gave Uraurishima in the Idunn box." 

"Idunn box?" Three voices asked. 

"It contained a gas that turned back time," Hin explained, having seen the Dark Tournament for herself. 

"Basically changes the fighter back to a toddler," Han elaborated. 

"Ah." Inumiko was satisfied for the moment. Yamiko and Sapphire turned back to the TV. 

"Except," Shishi sighed, "It did more for Kurama than his opponent." There were a couple blank stares. 

"And...?" 

"Well, being given the name 'Kurama' wasn't exactly a coincidence..." 

"...Which _means_...?" 

Shishi sighed. "Does the name 'Yoko Kurama' ring a bell?" 

More then one person gasped. All eyes were on him, now, instead of the TV, where the fog was clearing. It was Yamiko who spoke first. 

"Yoko Kurama?" she asked, "But...but he's dead!" 

"No he's not," Han and Hin said, simultaneously. Yamiko's eyes were wide as she leapt to her feet. 

"I have to talk to him!" she exclaimed, rushing for the door. 

"Yamiko!" Sapphire called, "You might want to see this..." Yamiko paused, hand on the doorknob, and turned back to the TV. She froze. 

"Oh my..." 

**  
_Fighting Field_  
***

Hiei smirked. 

"It's over." Yusuke stared at him. 

"How can you tell?" 

"Can't you?" Hiei snapped, "Yoko Kurama's coming. This battle will be over within a minute." Yusuke's face turned into a smile--he'd only seen Yoko once, in the last round of the Dark Tournament. Even then, it had been a battle Yusuke was glad he wasn't in...never mind that Karasu had managed to survive the attack. 

The fog was soon sucked back into Nezume's strand of wheat, and they looked for the figures in the middle of the field. 

Many a jaw dropped when they saw who was there. 

"It's...it's..." Yusuke seemed at a loss for words. 

"It's Yoko Kurama!" Yakusoku exclaimed. 

"It's..._chibi_ Yoko Kurama!" For standing in the middle of the field was Nezume and somebody else. That somebody had silver hair, fox-like ears, golden eyes, and looked to be about the age of five. 

The little kitsune moved his head slowly, taking in all the faces around him before bursting into tears. 

Most of the girls erupted into a chorus of "awwwwww..." but none moved to do anything. 

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Nezume exclaimed, staring at the crying kitsune closely, "You're supposed to be a speck! Not...five years old! Hey...wasn't your hair red a moment ago? And what happened to your ears?" He moved closer to the kitsune and crouched, observing his now chibi-fied opponent, "They were human a minute ago..." He extended a finger to touch them. The little fox instantly stopped crying and bit him. 

"OUCH!" Nezume roared, leaping up and shaking his finger, "It bit me!" 

"Mousie?" Yoko asked, head tilted and looking up into the face of his opponent, "I like mousie! Mousies taste good!" He latched himself firmly onto Nezume's leg and began gnawing. 

Nezume gave a roar of pain and began doing an odd sort of dance, trying to shake Yoko off his leg. The fox hung on tight and refused to let go. 

"Well, this is different!" Faye exclaimed, "It seems Nezume's gas is a time reversal, that should have taken Kurama back in time so far he'd be nothing but a speck--but we all know Kurama's relation to Yoko Kurama, so instead of being a speck, he's a five-year-old Yoko Kurama, and now he seems to have developed a liking for Nezume's leg--he's latched onto it and there's no telling when he'll be letting go!...speaking of five-year-olds, where's Frogari?" 

"Hiei," Yusuke said, staring at the two fighters in the ring, "Be honest. Is there any chance that Kurama can win this fight?" Hiei paused and thought before answering. 

"We can hope he still has instincts," he said, "For his sake, he'd better remember them." 

"Instincts?" Yusuke asked, turning towards him. 

"The instinct to kill, being one." 

"KILL?" 

"His opponent. Not us." 

"That's a relief." From the ring there came a scream. Yusuke and Hiei immediately turned to look and were astonished to see that Nezume and Yoko were gone! 

"Well, this is just great," Faye sighed, from her position atop the barrier, "They've both pulled a vanishing act--I can't see if they're still in the field or not--but they couldn't leave, could they? I mean, the barrier's still up...would you mind lowering it? Thanks." The barrier lowered; Faye flew down into the field and looked over it quickly. Her gaze landed on the hole in the center of the ground and she flew over to it, stopping and hovering before peering in. 

"EW!" she exclaimed, a look of digust crossing her face, "I'm all for blood and violence, but that is nasty. Um, I think he's dead--unless he somehow managed to survive those two bones impaling him through the head, I'm quite sure he's dead. I'd like a second opinion, though...Frogari? Where are you?" There was a long pause. "Well, I guess you're not here. Coward...um, would the Captains of each team like to come forward and offer their opinions?" Yusuke practically ran onto the field; Zaraya did the same. 

Yusuke winced at the sight. Nezume was on his back, two sharp bones sticking out of his forehead like horns. His leg had been completely severed from his body, and Yoko was happily gnawing on it. 

"I think he's dead," Yusuke agreed. Zaraya only nodded before turning and walking away. 

"Hey!" Yusuke called after her, "Don't you care that your teammate's _dead_?" 

"Compassion is for the weak," she responded icily, not turning around, "He lost because he tripped over his own feet. I cannot pity him." 

"I guess the victory goes to Team Urameshi!" Faye exclaimed, "Would the next fighters please step into the ring!" 

"Hn." Hiei had appeared next to Yusuke, "I was right about the instincts." 

"How are we supposed to get him out of there?" Yusuke asked, watching Yoko chew contentedly, "I don't think he should fight again until he's back to normal." 

"Leave it to me." Within a few seconds, Hiei had managed to not only get Yoko out of the hole, but to leave Nezume's leg behind as well. 

"How did you do that?" Yusuke asked, as the little kitsune started gnawing on Hiei's leg. 

"You don't want to know," came the response, "Here." Yusuke suddenly found himself holding an armful of squirming kitsune. "I'm fighting next." 

Yusuke was halfway back to his side of the field when he remembered that he was still holding a chibi Yoko Kurama. A restless chibi Yoko Kurama. 

"Hiei, what am I supposed to do with him?!" 

***  
_Death Isle Hotel  
Room 10C_  
*** 

"Poor Kurama," Keiko whispered, "That's got to be embarassing." 

"Cute!" Niyali protested stubbornly, "Besides, he had good taste to be gnawing on Hiei's leg." 

"Niyali!" Arashi protested, "How can you say such a thing? He probably made Hiei bleed!" Niyali opened her mouth to say that that was a good thing, but Kuwabara cut her off. 

"I guess Shrimpy's fighting next," he said, "I hope--" 

_Crash._ The eight of them turned as the door was smashed open, splitting into pieces and falling off its hinges. Six large figures entered the room, all tall and heavily built. Several of them were carrying weapons. None of them looked happy. 

"Hey!" Kuwabara exclaimed, standing up, "Who do you think you are, bursting in here like that?" 

"We're 'ere on bis'ness," one of the thugs slurred. 

"Business," Arashi said, "Seems more like you're a team who came too late for the Tournament. Sorry, boys, but this slot's taken." She grinned; Niyali and Kozu giggled. 

"No," another thug said, "You misunderstand us. When we say bis'ness, we mean _bis'ness._" He pounded his fist into his palm for emphasis. 

"Oh," Arashi faltered, "You mean _that_ kind of business." 

"You can't possibly be serious!" Botan shrieked, standing up as well, "This is a private room, and you come barging in here demanding a fight? This is _ridiculous_!" 

"Not when we're paid," the first thug said, grinning toothily, "We jus' do what we're asked." 

"Get into one of the back rooms," Kuwabara said to the girls, "I'll take care of this." 

"Six against one?" Niyali said, "You're crazy!" 

"That's not smart," Kozu added, "Then again, neither are you." 

"As entertaining as it would be to see you die," Arashi followed up, "That'd be one less team member, and we can't have that." Wind swept through the room, blowing their hair every which way as storm clouds gathered at the ceiling, flickering with lighting. 

"Fine," Kuwabara growled, "Botan, Yukina, sis, Keiko, you guys go hide." 

"And leave the four of you?" Shizuru asked, raising an eyebrow, "I don't think so!" 

"Just listen to me, sis!" Kuwabara yelled, "We can take care of them!" 

"They're nothing," Kozu said calmly, taking a white rose out of her hair. Niyali nodded and pulled out her flute. 

"This'll be over before it even begins," she grinned. 

"Come on," Botan said, grabbing Yukina and Keiko's hands before retreating to the girls' room. Shizuru followed reluctantly. 

"You better attack us all at once," Kuwabara said, "I promise we'll go easy on you." 

"Are ya sur' you wanna do this?" the first thug (which seemed to be the leader) asked, "I wouldn't want you to die in so much pain, especially little things like you." His gaze flickered to the girls, who immediately took offense. 

"You're going to regret that," Arashi growled, lighting gathering in her hands. "You are SO going to regret that." 

***  
_Field_  
*** 

"And with no further ado, let's begin Match 4! Team Urameshi's Hiei vs. Team Kokushibyou's Aretesia! Get ready...get set...FIGHT!" 

Aretesia wasted no time in getting started. Extending her right arm, she turned her palm towards Hiei and gathered her ki, resulting in shooting a beam of silver-white energy straight at him. At the last second, he blurred, and the beam slammed into the ground, obliterating several skulls and creating a smoldering hole. 

"Is that the best you can do?" Hiei taunted, now behind her, "I thought I'd be getting a good fight, not something pathetic like this." 

"Then a good fight you shall have!" Aretesia exclaimed, and shot off another beam of energy. This one he also dodged, and when she fired off another one, dodged that. 

"This is amazing!" Faye exclaimed, "Aretesia's firing off a barrage of her Spirit Energy, but Hiei's managing to dodge every single attack!" 

"This is _boring_," Hiei called, even as he dodged more of Aretesia's beams, "I said I wanted a good fight, and here you're not even trying." Aretesia's eyes narrowed. 

"Bored, are you? Then try THIS!" The familiar beam of energy burst from her hand; Hiei swiftly leapt to the right. 

But this time, Aretesia was ready for him. Not one, but _two_ energy bolts were right where he jumped, and unable to change the direction of his jump, he leapt right into it. 

"Amazing!" Faye narrated, "Aretesia's somehow predicted Hiei's movements--she fired off another beam and it hit him square in the shoulder! He's landed hard on the ring, and it looks like he's not moving--wait a second, I stand corrected! Hiei's struggling to his feet, but it looks like the beam's taken it's toll..." 

Sure enough, Hiei was struggling to stand, his right hand clutching his left shoulder. Aretesia's beam had gone straight through, not only drawing blood, but somehow it seemed to spread through his whole arm, numbing it... 

If this was what happened to his arm, he'd better avoid another hit. 

"Still bored?" Aretesia asked. She didn't give him time to answer. Curling her hand into a fist, she punched viciously at the air. Light exploded from her fist, flooding through the gaps between her fingers, expanding to cover the half of the field with her silver blast. 

Yusuke (who just happened to be right in the area of fire), dove out of the way, pulling Yoko with him. Hiei, hampered by his arm and the borders of the field, wasn't so lucky. The blast propelled him backwards, pushing him off the field. A distance away, he crashed into the ground, skidding through it with enough force to pull up the grass and some of the dirt underneath him, leaving a small trench in his wake. 

"HIEI!" Yusuke yelled, scrambling to his feet. 

"Oh, WOW!" Faye cried, "Aretesia's somehow managed to increase the range of her spirit attacks, blowing Hiei out of the ring with an ENORMOUS blast of energy! After a blow like that, it's doubtful whether he'll rise again! Wait a second, he's out of the ring! Here we go--one! Two! Three!" As Faye's count increased, Yusuke could only stare at Hiei's unmoving form--he wasn't sure he would have survived a blast like that. What about Hiei? Could he? 

Was this the end of Hiei? 

***

_

A strike of Aretesia's energy disabled Hiei's arm--what has the full blast done? And if Hiei can rise, can he win with only the use of one arm? Let's not forget the rest of the team back at the hotel--it's four of them against six large, ugly brutes, who have been paid to kill. Can they overcome such odds? It's dreadful, it's action-y, it's next time on YUYUHAKUSHO! 

_


	17. Hiei Battles On

**_Hello, everybody! Welcome back! Aren't you happy this chapter didn't take two months? _**

Well, before we get started, I'd just like to announce the competition that Arashi and I are starting. It's called the Writer/Reader Reversal_ competition (many thanks to Elyndewen Startree for the name!) and this is how it works! _

Every month, we (the writers) pick a random word/phrase. Then we give it to you (the readers), and it's your job to write a story incorporating that word/phrase (readers become writers!)! After the deadline for submissions has passed, Arashi and I will judge the stories (writers become readers) and the winner will recieve a special prize! So, without further ado, this month's Writer/Reader Reversal stats! 

Category: YYH   
Genre: Whatever you want! Humor, angst, drama, horror...your game!   
Length: Minimum 1000 words, maximum...as long as you want but it must be complete.   
Phrase: "Let him go!"   
Location: First or last words of the story, you decide.   
Deadline: Wednesday, May 12, 2004   
Prize: The winner will be a guest star in an author's note of the story of their choice; The Ohsukah Tournament OR The Grass is Always Greener!   
To enter: Fill out the submission form and send it to us at evil_towel@yahoo.com 

**_The submission form is as follows..._**

Penname:   
Story Title:   
Genre:   
Rating:   
Story (or a working link): 

**_And that's it! You have roughly a month, so start writing! Now, with that out of the way, let's go read Chapter Seventeen! _**

* * *

Chapter Seventeen: Hiei Battles On 

***_  
Death Isle Hotel   
Room 10C_   
***

The room was pitch black, not something you'd expect during the middle of a day. But Shizuru, Botan, Keiko, and Yukina weren't taking any chances--perhaps if the room was dark, they wouldn't be noticed. 

Shizuru stood at the door to the main room, one ear pressed against the wood in hopes of hearing something. Botan lay half on the floor, peering through the crack underneath the door. Yukina and Keiko sat on the bed closest to the door, waiting anxiously. 

"Can you see anything?" Shizuru asked Botan. 

"Nuh-uh," Botan replied, her voice a bit muffled, "Just feet." 

"D'you--d'you think they'll be all right?" Keiko asked, trembling. 

"They'll be just fine!" Botan replied instantly, "They're on our team, aren't they? They wouldn't have gotten to the second round if they weren't good at fighting!" 

"They only got here because the other team captain forfeited," Shizuru reminded them, "It was dumb luck." 

"They still got there," Botan pointed out. All further conversation was cut off once something collided into their door with a loud THUMP. The door shook, but the wood it was made of was sturdy and did not break. 

"What was that?" Yukina asked. 

"Something hit the door and slid down," Botan said, peeking through the hole, "I can't tell who it is, though--oh MOVE, you're blocking my view!" She banged on the door with her fist. 

"I thought you said you didn't have a view," Shizuru reminded her. A sweatdrop appeared on Botan's head as she laughed nervously. 

"Well," she sighed, sitting up on her knees, "I guess we'll just have to wait until it's over." 

***  
_Field_  
***

"Five! Six! Seven!" As Faye's count increased, Hiei struggled harder to get to his feet. Strange...after a collision like that, he should be feeling pain all over his body. But he didn't feel a thing. Okay, so he felt something, but it was only a very, VERY dim throb...nothing what it should have been. Aretesia's numbing technique was very impressive--and very effective. 

His arm was completely useless, and for all his efforts, he could barely move. He couldn't feel his muscles, any of his limbs--yet he forced himself to move. He _had_ to get back in the ring. 

"Eight! Nine...!" With a last surge of energy, Hiei pulled himself up on his feet and leapt towards the ring, landing in just before Faye counted ten. 

"It's official, folks--no matter WHAT you do, you can't get rid of Hiei! He's back in the ring, but if you thought Aretesia's first strike hit him badly, just look at him now! With all the trouble he's having standing, I doubt he'll even be able to attack, much less block as Aretesia moves in for a repeat!" 

Aretesia smiled; here was a worthy opponent! In all her life, she'd rarely had her prey come back after such an attack (well, she'd only used that attack once or twice, so that's not really a fair count); that Hiei had done so spoke volumes about him. 

"Impressive," she called, "You must be rather determined to win--not many have survived that attack." Hiei didn't respond. 

"Dammit," Yusuke muttered, staring at the two competitors, "How the heck is he supposed to win this if he can barely move?" 

"He has had practice," said a voice, "He will live." Yusuke whirled around, startled, and his eyes widened as he saw who was there. 

Yoko Kurama leaned casually against a tree, his eyes not on Yusuke but on the fight. What was surprising was that he was no longer small and innocent. Rather he was his normal size and height (which was at _minimum_ six feet), and the only innocence about him seemed fake. 

"What the heck happened," was all Yusuke could say. 

"Simple, really," Yoko responded, still watching the fighters, "Aretesia hit Hiei with her energy, and it--" 

"Not THAT!" Yusuke interrupted, getting annoyed, "Why aren't you five years old any more?" 

"Why didn't you say so?" Yoko responded, well aware that he was annoying Yusuke, "It appears Nezume's gas is slow to wear off, but when it does, it does so in leaps. The first was from five years to what I am now; the next few will probably not have much of a difference, seeing as I am three hundred years old, but have no fear. Shuichi will be back before the next round begins." 

"Why does that not comfort me?" Yusuke muttered. Yoko pretended he hadn't heard that. 

"This should be easy," Aretesia commented, "You don't have enough energy to fight back--tell you what, I'll make it easy and end your life in one blow!" 

"Go ahead," Hiei responded calmly, "I'm waiting." Aretesia lifted her hand again and it began to glow silver-white. Within seconds, the familiar beam of light was streaking towards Hiei, and there was no way the injured fighter could dodge. There wasn't enough time to do anything but blink. 

But Hiei was well used to doing things in short amounts of time. 

A wall of fire shot into existence, effectively blocking Aretesia's attack. The silver-white jet slammed into it and disintegrated into nothing. 

"I thought we agreed on a good fight," Hiei stated, as Aretesia stared, "I'm hardly getting a workout at all." Aretesia frowned; how had he managed to pull up a shield so powerful so quickly? It was impossible; his body was practically immobile, and most everybody needed to use their hands to control their attacks and defenses...unless... 

Her eyes flickered to his forehead, and she stared, spellbound, at the glowing red eye that rested there. 

"You have a _Jagan_," she spat. 

"I was wondering when you'd notice." 

"Aretesia's one powerful opponent, but Hiei's managed to survive every attack she throws at him!" Faye said, "What will she try next? Or is it Hiei's turn to attack? Brace yourselves, people, I've got a feeling this is about to get messy!" Aretesia glared at Hiei; he glared back. He could sense her fatigue from where he was standing; she'd never admit it, but so many energy beams were tiring. If this continued, she'd drop from exhaustion before she could breach his shield. The Jagan gave him enough energy to hold and maintain it...however, he still could barely move. Attacking was far out of the question. 

Aretesia ended the staring competition by drawing a bokuto--or a wooden sword. 

"What, is she going to try to cut through his shield?" Yusuke asked Yoko, clearly clueless, "But his shield is fire--it'll just burn up!" 

"Be patient; many things are not what they seem," the kitsune replied. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Yusuke asked. Yoko didn't respond. 

_Stupid riddles,_ Yusuke thought miserably. 

"You should feel special," Aretesia told Hiei, twirling her botuko absentmindedly, "I've never used this ability before for anybody--I only came up with it recently, and I must admit, I got the idea from you." 

"I'm flattered," Hiei said, not sounding flattered at all. She smiled. 

"Of course." She stopped twirling and shifted to a fighting stance, holding the sword as if she were about to hit a baseball with it. Energy flooded from her into the botuko, and it began to glow. 

"This is new," Yusuke muttered. 

"Not exactly," Yoko corrected, "It appears to be a version of Kuwabara's Spirit Sword--she's transmitting her energy into the botuko, and will undoubtedly use it to attack with." 

"If it's a version of Kuwabara's Spirit Sword, why'd she say she got it from Hiei?" 

"The Sword of the Darkness Flame--Hiei did basically the same thing, only with the hilt of his katana and the Dark Dragon." 

"...when was this?" 

"Semi-finals of the Dark Tournament; Hiei was fighting Kuromomataro, a demon who became immune to Hiei's attacks by inhaling a Steaming Sphere." 

"Something tells me I don't want to ask." 

"Then don't." 

Aretesia's botuko was now as bright as the sun as it glowed, radiating energy as if it was attached to her. Taking a breath, she charged, yelling "CRYSTAL SPIRIT" as she did so. 

Hiei flung up his barrier, and the gleaming sword connected. Energy sparked, black, white, black, white. Neither side gave, and the sword most definitely did not burst into flames. 

Aretesia surprised them all by leaping back, pulling her sword with her. Hiei was caught unawares; the energy he'd placed in his shield burst forth like a dam when the wall is broken. In that brief moment, Aretesia was back, swinging her sword ferociously. Hiei threw up another barrier, but it wasn't enough. 

The botuko slammed into his barrier, stopping mere centimeters from his neck. The force of the impact propelled him backwards and off the field. Just like before, he slammed through the ground, creating a second trench of dirt just like the first one. 

"With an _amazing_ display of Spirit Power, Aretesia's knocked Hiei out of the ring for the second time!" Faye exclaimed, "Let's take a ten count--one! Two! Three!" 

"HIEI!" Yusuke yelled, starting forwards. 

"Five! Six! Seven!" Aretesia smiled to herself and turned, walking back towards her team. 

"He won't be getting up from that," she murmured to herself. 

"Nine! And TEN! By a ringout, Aretesia is the winner!" Yusuke and Yoko wasted no time in rushing over to Hiei, who lay on the ground, unmoving. As they got closer, they could see that he was struggling to raise himself, but to no avail. 

"Be still," Yoko instructed, slipping an arm around the fire demon and leaning him into a sitting position, "You'll tire yourself out." 

"I...can do...just fine," Hiei grumbled, still struggling. 

"Are you all right?" Yusuke asked, concern in his voice. 

"I'll be fine," Hiei snapped, "I don't...need help." 

"Hardly able to move and you say that?" Yoko asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Shut...up, kitsune." 

"Will the next fighters please step into the ring?" Faye asked. 

"Take care of him," Yusuke said to Yoko, who nodded and picked Hiei up off the ground. Ignoring his indignant protests, Yoko carried him closer to the edge of the ring and propped him against a tree so he could watch. Yusuke headed towards the middle of the field, where Faye and Zaraya were already waiting. 

"And the score is tied!" Faye announced happily, "Team Kokushibyou has three wins, as does Team Urameshi! The next match, battle between captains Zaraya Zenobia and Yusuke Urameshi will decide who moves on to the next round! Are we ready? Then one, two, three, let's go!" 

* * *

**_Cliffies are fun, ne? ^_^ _**

Don't forget about the Writer/Reader Reversal! It's fun, trust us! Anyway, I'm feeling nice today, so I'm going to do review responses! All hail the review responses! 

soccerGoalie: Mousie! ^_^ That's why I put it in there...we live to make people laugh! 

flamin: Okay! I updated! And I'll update again soon! Promise! Essays suck, you're right. 

clouds are yummy: It would, but we all know Hiei's never going to get out that easily. He'll stick with it 'til the end...stubborn fire demon. 

Kitsune: Thank you! Sorry 'bout the weapon, but it just worked out that way...hope you don't mind too much! 

Angelique: Thank you! 

Elyndewen Startree: ^_^ You know us too well. 

**_Is that it? Wow, that's a lot less than the Grass is Always Greener...hm, which is more popular, d'you think? ^_^ _**


	18. Something Stupid!

**_Terribly sorry this took so long! I got reeeeeally bad writer's block (again), so the Tournament was over in the corner so long it grew mold, and I had to de-mold it. But I did; finally! So, yay! _**

**_(Actually, Arashi and I have a deal....I sent her a long list of fics, and for every one of those she reads, I'll update. She's read three already...this is only my second update! NYAG!!)_**

Couple things: 1) Go read my other fics, The Grass is Always Greener and It's A Lot of Fun! They're great! n.n   
2) Go read Arashi's new fic, Loneliness. It's sad. T.T   
3) If you have time, please go sign up for my friend Lizard's Tournament! Go to her website ), click on YYH Fanfics, and go from there! n.n Thanks!   
4) If you'd like info on the next Writer/Reader Reversal, go check our bio! Aaaaaall the way at the bottom!

Oh, yeah, and ignore the title....Arashi-chan and I were fooling around and she dared me to use it. ((sigh))

Disclaimer: We don't own Zaraya...did we say that already? 

* * *

Chapter Eighteen: Something Stupid 

At this point of the match, the field was in a massive state of disarray. Holes littered the ground everywhere (not to mention the big pit in the center with Nezume's dead body at the bottom), as well as bones from the skeletons Yakusoku's attack had pulled up. It was going to be difficult not to trip over anything as the two team Captains fought for the round. 

"It's been three minutes since the match has officially started, and neither one of the competitors has done anything!" Faye said, "There can't be a reason for this non-action, can there?" 

"We might as well get started," Yusuke said. 

"Might as well," Zaraya responded evenly. Neither of them moved to do a thing. 

"Tell you what," Yusuke said, purposefully baiting his opponent, "Since I'm in a good mood today, I'll even let you have the first move. Who knows, maybe it'll help you to win." There--a flash of anger in her eyes. 

"I don't need a handicap," she spat, "But all the same, thank you for the oppurtunity!" She pulled out a katana and lunged with a battle cry. 

It had been a long time since Yusuke had last faced an opponent with a sword, but it was the same idea--hit them before they can hit you. 

And so he did. 

Zaraya went flying across the battlefield (if the boulder had still been there, she would have crashed through it), colliding with the ground to make her own little impact trench, much like Hiei had done earlier. 

"And Yusuke gets through Zaraya's defenses, knocking the poor girl down with a simple punch!" 

"Get up," Yusuke called to Zaraya, "I know you can do more than that." Katana still in hand, she obliged, leaping at Yusuke in a fury of steel. 

Yusuke applied the same method, and soon there was a second trench next to the first one she'd created. Her katana flew out of her hand to lodge firmly in a tree trunk. 

Spitting out a tooth, Zaraya pulled herself up again, wobbling slightly on her two feet. 

"This i s pathetic," Yusuke said, trying to see if he could taunt her into attacking him again, "If you're not going to fight, forfeit now--it'll save you embarassment." 

"You--" She dashed out of the ring to wrench her katana from the tree before coming back to attack again. He let her attempt to hit him. It was simple to dodge her, after all--this was no challenge. Not at all. 

"BLACK ROSE WHIP!" Something snaked out from her left hand; Yusuke frantically pulled back but something scraped across his arm, wrenching the skin and muscle apart as it worked through to connect with bone. 

Zaraya smiled as he screamed in pain, her katana held loosely in her right hand and what looked to be a black rose whip coiled in her left. 

"Did that hurt?" she asked sweetly, cocking her head, "Is poor Yusuke in pain?" 

"Damn you people," Yusuke said, through gritted teeth, "You are so stupid." Her ear twitched. 

"What." 

"I mean, honestly." The old Yusuke was back as he straightened up, ignoring the blood pooling from his arm. "Aren't you smart enough to come up with your _own_ moves? Apparently not; you have to keep stealing Kurama's." Anger flashed in her eyes again, and Yusuke was struck at how easily she got ticked off. It was slightly amusing, actually. 

"I don't see a copyright on them," she snapped, "And that isn't the only one!" Dropping the blade and whip, she cradled one of her hands in her other at arm's length from her body. 

"Zaraya, NO!" Kasei yelled, getting up off the ground, "Yours isn't as--" 

"SPIRIT GUN!" A black orb of energy shot from her finger, shooting across the battlefield towards her opponent-- 

Only to be ripped apart at the center. 

"What?!" Zaraya's eyes widened in shock as she started at the remains of her Spirit Gun, splitting apart before her very eyes to make way for the blue orb that pushed through them. 

And that orb was much, much larger. 

"--strong as his is," Kasei finished weakly. 

For the third time in that battle, Zaraya was propelled backwards. The rest of her team scattered like bowling pins as she went through them, finally coming to a halt several feet away from the ring. Faye, not needing to state the obvious, began her ten count. 

Yusuke smirked and lowered his hands from his traditional Spirit Gun pose. 

"Maybe it's not copyrighted," he called to Zaraya's prone form, "But nobody can copy the great Urameshi's Spirit Gun with exactly the same punch." 

"Ten!" Faye concluded, "And with a _spectacular_ light show finish from Yusuke Urameshi, this round of the Ohsukah Tournament comes to an end: TEAM URAMESHI IS THE WINNER!" She grinned to the invisible cameras, "There'll be a short intermission to set the field to rights before we begin the next round, but don't worry, the second round will continue after that! So stick around! Teams Raka and Kodomo, this is your call to get down to the ring!" With that, she switched off her microphone. "Now, to find Frogari..." 

Yoko met Yusuke halfway back to the edge of the ring. 

"Be still," he commanded, as he gently took Yusuke's arm in his hands, "Let me have a look." Yusuke winced and barely repressed a second scream of pain as Yoko stuck his fingers into the wound. 

"Hold out your other hand." Yusuke did so, surprised when two bloody objects dropped into it. 

"What are those?" he murmured, bringing his hand to his face to examine them. Only then did he realize that they were thorns from Zaraya's whip. He guessed they'd been embedded in his arm until Yoko had removed them. 

"Until we can get Yukina to heal you, this'll have to do," Yoko said, and Yusuke saw that he'd made a crude bandage for his arm out of some sort of plant. "Try not to move it until then." 

"I don't think I could," Yusuke grunted, and it was true. The plant practically bound his arm into one position; he hoped circulation was still getting to his fingers. 

"I mean it," Yoko all but growled, as he headed back to where Hiei lay, "Don't move it." 

"Okay, okay." He followed him back to the edge of the ring and waited while Yoko hoisted Hiei onto his back. 

"I don't need to be carried," the fire demon protested, "I'm perfectly capable of--" 

"Do us all a favor, Hiei?" Yusuke interrupted, "Shut up." 

And so the victorious team left the field, leaving behind the stunned forms of their beaten opponents. The hotel, and a brief period of rest and relaxation, awaited them. 

...or so they thought. 

:::   
_Death Isle Hotel_  
::: 

"Well, that was exciting," Yusuke said, as the trio headed up the stairs towards their hotel room, "Kuwabara got his butt kicked, Arashi burnt some guy to cinders, Niyali narrowly escaped Hiei's wrath--" Hiei glared at him "--we learned that Kozu's like an exact clone of Kurama--hey, wait, she is!" He turned to Yoko, "I mean, she wears her hair like Kurama's, her eyes are the same color, some of her attacks used roses, she's like a Kurama clone! Seriously!" His eyes clouded in thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be odd if the two of you were related?" 

"Yusuke," Yoko said, his voice forcefully pleasant as they turned down the hallway to their room, "I regret to inform you I never had a sister, and I'd prefer it if you'd leave the subject of my family alone." 

"Cousin, maybe!" Yusuke said, before letting the subject drop, "Okay, anyway, we all got to see Hiei's wonderful Dragon in action, Kurama's back to Youko, and I got to cream somebody else with my Spirit Gun. Yep," he sighed, hooking his hands behind his head, "Pretty normal day in the life of Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi." 

"In the words of the 'Great Yusuke Urameshi'," Hiei said mockingly, " 'Do us all a favor? Shut up.'" 

"Well, tempers are running high," Yusuke quipped. "Hold on a second--didn't our room used to have a door?" 

"What do you mean 'used to'?" Hiei asked, trying to see over Yoko's shoulder. 

"We have no door anymore." He wasn't lying; the door was completely gone, smashed into splinters by...something. They stepped through the large hole that something had made and saw-- 

A scene of utter confusion. 

"DIE DIE DIE!" 

"THAT ONE'S FOR MY MOTHER!" 

"THAT'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH KAZUMA KUWABARA!" 

"What the heck is going on in here?!" 

Four pairs of eyes looked up; one belonging to Arashi, who was currently whacking a large brute in the head with a chair. One belonged to Niyali, who was doing the same thing with a large stick to another. A third belonged to Kozu, who was standing over a dead thug, and the last belonged to Kuwabara, standing there with his Spirit Sword out, a fourth thing dead on the floor at his feet. 

"Oh, hey Urameshi!" Kuwabara said, and his sword disappeared, "How'd the battle go?" 

"What happened here?" Yoko asked, Hiei sliding off his back to hit the floor (he landed on his feet and immediately grabbed the wall for support). 

"Nothing happened!" Kuwabara quickly lied, stepping forwards to block their view while the girls scrambled to hide the evidence. 

"Kuwabara-" Yusuke pushed his way past, "The door's gone, the sofa's cut in half, the television is smoking, the potted plant is broken, everything looks _soaked_, you're bleeding and there are four-" He crossed to the demolished sofa, "No, wait, _six_ dead things in our room. And you say nothing happened?" 

"Yep." 

"Nothing happened," Arashi added, from her position in the air. 

"We just sat here and did nothing," agreed Kozu, flying next to her. 

"Nothing at all." Niyali added her two cents from behind the sofa as she attempted to evade Yoko. He caught her. 

"Hold still, you're hurt." 

"So are they!" Yoko glanced up at Arashi and Kozu. 

"Well, you're hurt more." 

"I am not! Kozu-chan got konked on the head by the large thug over there, Arashi-chan--" 

"Well, I'm dealing with you right now, not them." 

"Catch me, Hiei!" Arashi had been flying for too long and fell unconscious--needless to say, losing her control over her flight and falling, landing not in Hiei's arms as he was couldn't very well move. She hit the floor instead. 

"Arashi!" Kozu attempted a crazy dive to her friend, but lost control herself, spiraling in circles to the floor before landing roughly on her rear end. 

"Hello?" The door to the girls room creaked open as Botan poked her head out, "Is it safe to come--oh my goodness gracious! What happened?!" 

"That's what I'd like to know," Yusuke added, folding his arms across his chest (or trying to; one of them wouldn't move). 

"Look at the pretty birdies," was Kozu's response, as she stared swirly-eyed at the ceiling. Yusuke turned to Kuwabara. 

"Kuwabara?" 

"I don't know anythin', Urameshi, nothing happened here. Nothing at all." The team captain raised an eyebrow, and Kuwabara sighed. "Fine, I'll tell you. We were just sitting here, watching Kurama's fight with that mousey guy..." 

_And the fight began. _

Hail poured in torrents from the clouds gathered on the ceiling; Arashi was using her powers to make sure it only fell on the thugs. 

"Cover me!" Niyali yelled to Kozu before beginning to play. Kuwabara stood off to the side for a second, wondering what she meant; but as the thugs started to head for Niyali to end the music, and Kozu stepped in front with her Rose Whip, he got the meaning. So he charged in too, Spirit Sword at the ready. 

Hail softened to rain; Arashi couldn't risk hitting her teammates with the hailstones. Thunder growled, perfectly accentating Niyali's song-- 

That is, until the song stopped with an awkward note that Kuwabara was pretty sure wasn't supposed to be there. 

"Anybody moves and the brat dies," said one of the thugs, and Kuwabara's brain snapped back into observation mode. The same thug who had spoken had crept around their defenses and knocked the flute from Niyali's hand--it lay on the floor, several feet away, while she herself dangled in the air, one of her wrists dangling at an unnatural angle and the thug's hands around her throat. Kozu lay on the ground, stunned from a heavy blow to the head (the brute standing over her held a kitchen chair in his hands). The rain stopped as Arashi hovered in the air, uncertain of what to do. Kuwabara himself was at a loss for words--how had this guy gotten past their defenses? 

"Niyali!" Arashi screamed, bobbing gently up and down in the air. Niyali choked as the man's hands tightened, her eyes wide with fear. 

"You BASTARD!" Fast as lightning, Kozu's foot swung upwards towards the man standing over her; it connected with the masculine part of his body and he was flung backwards, slamming into a door and sliding down to rest on the floor. 

"Don't MOVE!" the choking-brute repeated, hands tightening ever more. 

"You move!" Kuwabara corrected, taking a leap and slicing into the man's arm. He screamed and dropped Niyali, who rolled over out of the way, clutching her throat and gasping for breath. 

Kozu raced over to her; Arashi followed suit until one of the forgotten men took a flying jump and collided with her, bringing her down and out of the air. 

"ARASHI!" Handy-dandy stick appeared out of nowhere; Niyali forgot her own injuries and charged, swinging wildly and catching Arashi's attacker in the chest. Winded, he stumbled backwards; she followed through and began to beat him wildly with the stick, yelling all the while. 

"THIS ONE'S FOR ARASHI!" Whack. "THIS ONE'S FOR...ARASHI TOO!" Whack. 

Arashi took to the air again and recreated the storm; Kozu flew up to join her, but something snagged her foot. 

"What the--" she looked down into the toothy grin of a thug, who (once he knew he had her attention), gave a firm yank and let go. Kozu's head collided with the floor and for the second time, she was stunned. 

"YOU BASTARD!" Copying Kozu's words and a thug's attack, Arashi grabbed the long-forgotten kitchen chair, charged it with lightning, and started beating him with the electrical chair. Needless to say, that hurt. 

Kuwabara, on the other hand, had disposed of two of the other thugs (demolishing the sofa and television in the process, but they were in the way). He was currently trying to pin a third against the wall-- 

And he suceeded, running it through with his Spirit Sword and letting it fall dead to the ground. 

Kozu shakily pulled herself back into the air and, upon surveying the damage done, noticed the sixth and only living thug (Arashi had shocked one to death and Niyali's was pretty much a bloody pulp by now, yet neither one of them had stopped yet). Pulling out one of her knives, she threw it, catching the thug dead center and killing it instantly. Pleased with herself, she flew over to retrieve her knife, listening absentmindedly to the voices of her friends. 

"DIE DIE DIE!" 

"THAT ONE'S FOR MY MOTHER!" 

"THAT'LL TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH KAZUMA KUWABARA!" 

"What the heck is going on in here?!" 

"..and that's where you came in." 

"So let me get this straight," Yusuke said, trying to sort it all out, "Six thugs came in and randomly demanded a fight with you?" 

"Yep." 

"And you GAVE IT TO THEM!?" 

"Well, what else were we supposed to do?! Stand by and let them kill us?" 

"Of course not!" The Team Captain and Team CoCaptain turned to the Team Trainer (Botan), who had interrupted their argument. "You'd be dead, we'd be dead, and the rest of the team would soon follow because you can't fight in the final round of the Tournament without seven people!" She turned to Yusuke and decided to change the subject, "So, how'd the rest of the round go? And what happened to your arm?" 

::: 

**_Lame ending, I know. Be quiet; I wanted to get this up for all of you. Next chapter should follow soon; I'm inspired now! n....n Reviews'll help it come faster... _**

**__**Review Responses: 

Dragonflyr: n.n I'm so glad you like it! Oh, and welcome to the Tournament Writing Club! Currently consists of: me, GS (GeminiStar) and you! n.n If you need any help writing out any of the battle scenes, feel free to ask for it! I'll lend you Chibi Yoko, and he'll help you get through it. n.n 

Superspiritgun: Thanks! Your review's great too! 

CHIPMUNK1: You have a fictionpress account? Cool! I won't laugh at you; I promise. The readers made the other teams; about a year ago (wow, it seems like yesterday) I asked for people to submit characters to this story (it was called Too Much Sugar and a Tournament back then), they did, and I compiled them into teams. n.n Without them, this fic would be dead. Literally. (Bet you thought it _was_ dead, haha, I fooled you!) n.n Thanks! I'm so glad you like the fic and it makes sense! That's always my problem, getting them to all make sense...let me know if it ever doesn't, okay? 

shadowcat241: Yeah...now that I think about it, I should've made the fight a draw...ah, well, it didn't matter in the long run. n.n Just an authorly mistake, I suppose. 

soccerGoalie: I'm sorry! I tried to hurry...but I didn't really. ((bows head in shame)) 

Tonysbedroomslave: n.n You don't want to know what your penname makes me think off...you're welcome for the update! Sorry this one took so long...and thanks for sticking with us! (Just a note; I'm the one writing this particular fic...and The Grass is Always Greener, if you wanna check it out. Arashi helps a lot, though. n.n Without her, I'd be dead!) 

flamin: I did get your email! Did you get the Counselors? Sorry, Arashi's just not very fast about that sort of stuff...takes her forever to send the stories out...and to update, but I can't very well talk! XD 

HellSpindle: NOOOOOOO! I DON'T WANNA GO TO HELL!!! ((sniif)) I'm sorry...I just can't stop writing cliffies....I'm good at them....and if it makes you all keep reading, who cares? XD 

**_Aw...only seven? The Grass is Always Greener gets about twenty...you should all go read it and make it about 27! NYAHAHA!! XD It's very good...I promise you won't be sorry! (shameless self-advertising...I've really got to stop doing that). 'Til next time! _**


	19. ThumpTHUMP

**_HA! Bet you thought this wouldn't be coming for a couple more weeks! XD Well, I'm inspired for this fic now...Chapter 20's already on its way. Review Responses are at the head of the chapter...because I felt like it. _**

Please note--my strategy for updating depends on my inspiration. As you all know, I have two rather successful fictions on (this and TGIAG--I'm debating starting them on ), as well as many I write on the sides (some will be posted as soon as I get enough written). When I'm inspired for a fic, I tend to focus more on that one...I'll try to write more on the others, but the inspired one is the one I'll work on most. And since I'm inspired, that either means it increases my backup of chapters (for times when I'm uninspired...the Tournament comes out as I write it, so there aren't any backups there. I probably should make some...) or the amount of updates. You're in luck; I'm inspired for this fic _and_ TGIAG at the moment (and as soon as I open another one, I'll be inspired there too I bet), so guess what that means? 

UPDATES!!! As many as I can crank out at as reasonable a pace I can take! I'm sure you woulnd't like it if I just threw out three chapters a day, now would you? 

Review Responses: 

Dragonflyr: Good luck! I recieved your submissions...they were very good! Feel free to do more! n.n Glad you like this fic! 

CHIPMUNK1: Well, let's just say Hiei's being very agreeable these days. n.n Maybe there's some ulterior motives...hmm...maybe he's being blackmailed...but let's stick with your reason because I'm too lazy to come up with one. I just write it as I imagine it (and oftentimes it gets crazy around here. But you know that). 

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave aka Tonysbedroomslave: n.n How's this for sooner? I can only hope Arashi-chan follows suit with the Counselors...but since you got such a big edition from her last time, I don't know how long you'll have to wait...hopefully not long! 

shadowcat241: Thanks for reviewing! n.n I wuv you and all the reviewers! ((shies away from pointy objects)) ((sigh)) So many people like to threaten me these days...guess I'll just have to update sooner! ...with lots more cliffies to keep you all interested and reviewing! n.n 

aqua-flames: I thought I was dreaming too! n.n Writer's Block stinks...thank goodness for inspiration! ((starts singing corny song about inspiration)) Inspiraatiiiiiiion....it's inspirational! n.n Lalalalalaaaaaaa...lalalaLAlala! I'm running out...of words to sing about! So you could say...I'm uninspired-al! n.n 

GryphonChild: n.n Tournament writers unite! I was entertained by your chapter too! _You_ should update...I can't wait to see what else happens! (PS to anybody reading this who's not GryphonChild: GO READ HER TOURNAMENT!! It's GREAT!!) 

Saria19: I'm going to wait to answer your questions until I update TGIAG, okay? Thanks for submitting them, but if it wouldn't let you do a review there you could always try annonymous...or on a different chapter... 

**_Now, on to the fic! n.n_**

* * *

Chapter Nineteen: ThumpTHUMP 

"They're all asleep," Botan said, shutting the door quietly behind her and Keiko, "All three of them." 

"That's a relief," Yusuke said, slumping down on the sofa. 

After reporting the damage to their room, the team had moved into the girls' room (meaning Shizuru, Keiko, Botan, and Yukina's room). Sleeping arrangments had been tough to work out, considering there were eleven of them and only four beds (two per each of the bedrooms), but they thought they had it figured out. 

"I thought they were never going to stop arguing over the beds," Kuwabara sighed. "How'd it work out?" 

"Go in and see for yourself," Keiko laughed quietly. 

"Later," Kuwabara shrugged before turning to Yukina, "Thanks for healing us, sweetums." 

"I'm happy to help," Yukina said, giving a little half bow in her seat. 

"Yes, with any luck they'll be much better tomorrow," Kurama added (he'd been very slowly turning human for the past half hour--at the moment, he still had Yoko's ears and tail, but his hair was an odd mixture of red and silver, and his eyes were back to their normal green. His personality was back, too, although when he spoke it was as if it was Yoko speaking, with an undertone of Shuichi). Having helped to treat the injuries himself, he could offer his advice. "Arashi will be tired tomorrow--she used up practically all of her energy--Kozu will probably be a bit disoriented and Niyali won't be doing much until her wrist heals, which should only take a day or two more. But other than that, perfectly fine." 

"Great, so we're probably going to be carrying two of them out the door," Hiei mumbled, "Wonderful." (He was still upset because his ability to move hadn't come back as quickly as he'd like.) 

"Hey, it could be worse," Yusuke said, absentmindedly scracthing his healed arm (Yukina had helped him, too). "Kuwabara could've gotten hurt, and then we'd be dragging him." 

"Can it, Urameshi, I can drag myself just fine." Kuwabara was rather proud of the fact the only injuries he'd obtained were "minor scratches", compared to what everybody else had. 

"I still can't believe somebody would be insane enough to send some ugly brutes after you!" Botan exclaimed, "Who would do something so unsportsmanlike?" 

"This isn't the first attempt they've made to sabotage our team." One of Kurama's ears twitched. "You remember Kozu and Niyali were trapped beneath the arena--I have a feeling they didn't get there by accident. Somebody would have had to put the boulder there to keep them from escaping." 

"Woah, are you saying that somebody deliberately _tried_ to kill them?" Yusuke didn't believe his ears. 

"And the four of you, by sending those men to attack you after you'd all been tired out from fighting." He frowned. "If my assumptions are correct, then somebody's trying to stop us from reaching the finals. The entire team may be in serious danger." 

"But who--" 

_Thump._

"--what was that?" Botan quickly changed what she was going to say. 

_Thump THUMP._

"It's coming from the girls room!" Kuwabara exclaimed, rising to his feet in alarm just as not-so-whispered voices reached their ears. 

"Shhh!" 

"You'll wake them up!" 

"They're not asleep yet." 

"How do you know?" 

"'Cause I heard them talking." 

"It's just the girls," Yusuke said, relaxing in his seat, "No need to panic." 

"Yes, but do you know what they're doing?" Shizuru pointed out. 

_ThumpthumpCRASH._

"Oh, now look what you did!" 

"I'm _sorry_! Arashi-chan, are you alright?" Silence. "Arashi-chaaaan!" 

"Should we check on them, d'you think?" Yusuke asked, supressing a yawn. 

"I'll do it," Botan offered. She headed over to the door that seperated the girls room from the main room and knocked. "Girls? Is everything all right?" 

"Oh great, we woke them up!" 

"I told you, they weren't asleep yet!" 

"What do we do?" (Arashi seemed to have recovered from whatever had happened.) 

"Don't answer. Maybe she'll go away." 

"Girls?" Botan started to turn the doorknob, and they listened as half-whispered panic broke out. 

"Crap, she's coming in!" 

"Kozu! Language!" 

"No time for language! Quick, get in bed!" 

"But the bed's--" 

"Oh yeah. Um..." There were sounds of something scraping along the floor--something heavy. Botan let out a gasp of disbelief. 

"The door won't open!" 

_:::  
Inside the room (and back a little in time)  
:::_

"You take the bed!" 

"No, you take it! You got bonked on the head _twice_, you need it more than I do!" 

"You were almost strangled to death! How can you say you don't need a bed?!" 

"Girls, please!" Keiko tried to intervene, "Is it worth this much of an argument?" 

"YES!" Niyali and Kozu shouted back, as they pointed to the other person, "SHE'S MORE HURT THAN I AM!" 

"How about you both take the beds?" Arashi suggested, "I can sleep on the flo--" 

"NO!" 

"Kozu, why don't you just take the bed?" Botan sighed, to try to end the argument, "Niyali's right, you were hit on the head twice today--" 

"But she was almost strangled to death, _and_ her wrist's broken!" Kozu pointed out, pointing at Niyali, who folded her arms indignantly. 

"Yukina practically healed my wrist," she said stubbornly, "And I wasn't strangled to death, so there." 

"But your throat's still sore!" 

"Yeah, well, Yukina healed that too!" 

"And she healed my head injuries, so there!" 

"But you said it still hurt!" 

"I was lying!" 

"ENOUGH!" Keiko yelled, and all arguments stopped. "Why don't you just _share_ a bed? You're small enough, you should each have enough space." 

"Okay," they agreed, and climbed into the same bed. Arashi pouted and opened her mouth. 

"But I want to--" 

"Goodnight, girls!" Botan said cheerfully, "Remember, you've got to catch the bus to the next arena early tomorrow, so go to sleep!" 

"Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite!" Keiko added, as Botan closed the door behind them, leaving the three girls in the dark. 

"They're all asleep," they heard her say, "All three of them." 

"Bed bugs?" Niyali squeaked, "There're bugs in these beds?" 

"It's a ningen saying," Kozu told her. Niyali laughed nervously. 

"I knew that." 

"No fair," Arashi pouted, folding her arms, "You guys get to share a bed and I'm all alone." 

"So come share with us!" Kozu said, pushing the covers away so Arashi could climb into bed with them. 

"Yeah, we don't bite like the nasty bedbugs do!" Niyali put in, "C'mon, there's lotsa room!" 

"YAY!" Running across the floor, Arashi leapt into the bed, pulling the covers over the three of them and settling back against the pillow. 

"Goodnight, Kozu. Goodnight, Niyali." 

"Goodnight, Arashi. Goodnight, Kozu." 

"Goodnight, Niyali. Goodnight, Arashi." And then there was silence as the three girls fell into peaceful sleep. 

...UNTIL... 

"Your foot's in my face," Arashi whispered. 

"Sorry." So Kozu moved her foot, and then there was some more shuffling as people tried to get comfortable in the twin-sized bed. 

And so there was silence for a while, and they were just about to fall asleep when Arashi decided she really didn't want to sleep that way, so she rolled over and took some of the blankets with her. 

This resulted in Niyali not having any blankets at all, and when she tried to grab them back, she rolled the wrong way and fell out of the bed with a THUMP. 

"Oh..." 

"Are you alright?" Kozu whispered, rolling over the edge of the bed to peer down at her. 

"This gives me an idea!" Arashi whisper-exclaimed, "Let's just pull the mattresses off the beds, stick them together, and then we can have one GIANT bed on the floor!" 

"Yeah!" And so they all got out of bed, pulled the blankets and pillows off the mattress, and gave it a heave! and a push! 

ThumpTHUMP. 

"Shh!" Kozu whispered, wincing at the noise the falling mattress had made. 

"You'll wake them up!" Arashi added as it was Niyali's efforts who'd made most of the noise. 

"They're not asleep yet." 

"How do you know?" Kozu cocked her head. 

"'Cause I heard them talking. Come on, let's go get the other one!" The same process followed-- 

ThumpthumpCRASH. 

"Oh, now look what you did!" 

"I'm _sorry_!" Niyali wailed, "Arashi-chan, are you okay?" 

"It's snowing," Arashi mumbled, barely loud enough for them to hear, from her position underneath the upturned bedstand. "Sparkley snowflakes!" 

"Arashi-chaaaaaan!" 

"I'm okay," Arashi said, her head wobbling a little, "Somebody help me?" Together, Niyali and Kozu pulled the bedstand off of her-- 

--only to drop it as Botan knocked on the door. 

"Girls? Is everything all right?" 

"Oh, great!" Kozu threw up her hands, "We woke them up!" 

"I told you, they weren't asleep yet!" 

"What do we do?" 

"Nothing," Kozu said sharply, "Maybe she'll go away." 

"Girls?" 

"Crap!" Kozu whispered loudly, "She's coming in!" Arashi whacked her on the head. 

"Kozu, language!" 

"No time for language!" Kozu protested, whapping her back, "Quick, get in bed!" 

"But the bed's--" Niyali gestured to the mess of mattress, pillows, and blankets. 

"Oh, yeah. Um..." Running out of ideas, Arashi grabbed the edge of the bedstand and pushed it towards the door. The girls scurried to help, and before long it was jammed securely next to the door. They knew they'd succeeded when they heard Botan protest, "The door won't open!" 

Silently they high-fived, and then proceeded to prepare their double-bed, enjoying listening to the panic that erupted outside their door. 

"What do you _mean_ it won't open?" 

"It won't! It's...it's stuck or something!" The door was pushed, but the bedstand didn't budge. 

"Here, let me try." There was a pause, and then a mighty THUMP as something rammed into the door. "Damn thing!" 

"Don't swear, Yusuke." 

"Girls?" Loud knocking. "Come on, open the door." 

"Don't make us break it down!" 

"Yusuke! Do you honestly think threatening them's going to work?" 

"Well, it might!" 

"There," Arashi whispered, giving one of the pillows a final fluff, "Should we let them in now?" 

"I say no," Niyali said, already crawling under the covers. 

"But then they'll break down the door," Kozu whispered anxiously, "I say we let them in." 

"You do that," Niyali mumbled sleepily, the flowers in her hair already starting to close 

"Niyali! How can you go to sleep with all the racket they're making out there!?" And it was true--the people outside had moved to ramming the door with all they had (thank goodness the bedstand was made of steel!). 

"Mmmm..." No response, other than to snuggle deeper into the pillows. 

"Fine," Kozu sighed, "Arashi-chan, you do it." 

"What?! Why me?" 

"Because it was your idea," Niyali said. 

"I thought you were asleep." 

"You thought wrong." 

"Wait a minute!" Kozu exclaimed, her face brightening up in the darkness, "I've got a plan!" 

_:::  
Outside the Door  
:::_

"Aand--HEAVE!" Together, they rammed into the door. "HEAVE!" 

"Why are you yelling 'heave' when you're pushing on the door?" Yukina asked, confusion evident on her face. 

"I have no idea," Botan said, "Yusuke's the one yelling." 

"AAND--" Before they could heave, the door was flung open, giving view to a very disgruntled Arashi and Kozu. 

"What the heck are you DOING!?" Arashi demanded. 

"Niyali's sleeping!" Kozu added. 

"Yes, I'm sleeping," came a voice from further in the room. 

"What the heck were you doing?" Shizuru demanded, much like Arashi had a moment ago, "We heard thumps and crashes--" 

"Are you all right?" Keiko interrupted, "You're not hurt, are you?" 

"We were _trying_ to make a bed," Arashi said stubbornly, "Now if you don't _mind_, some of us would like to get some sleep!" The door slammed in their faces with a loud SLAM, and there were some random noises inside the room before it was quiet. 

"Well," Yusuke said, blinking, "I guess they're all right after all." 

"Who's ready to hit the hay?" Kuwabara yawned, "'Cause I sure am." 

"That may not be a bad idea," Kurama agreed, stifling a yawn of his own. 

"All in favor of going to bed, say 'aye'!" A scattered chorus of 'aye's floated back to Yusuke, he took that as an affirmative "let's go to bed!" and asked the next question. 

"So, who sleeps where?" 

_:::_

For some reason, Shizuru was finding it hard to fall asleep. She tried re-adjusting her position several times, counting sheep, counting beer bottles, nothing seemed to work. At long last, she decided to get up and get a drink of water. Maybe that would help her. 

She sat up, the blanket falling off her, and glanced about. Yukina slept soundly in the bed next to her while Botan dozed on the large windowseat in the opposite wall. Silently, Shizuru padded out of their room and into the other. The only light came from the moon, and was slightly obscured by Hiei, asleep in a half-on, half-off position on the windowsill. Some of the remaining light fell on Kurama, ears twitching slightly as he slumbered in his mess of blankets and pillows on the floor. Kuwabara snored loudly from one of the sofas; Yusuke answered unconsciously with an even louder snore. Keiko's nose twitched in subconscious disgust as she rolled over on the third and last sofa. 

Shizuru smiled softly and headed for the kitchen half of the room. As she was reaching for a glass from one of the cupboards, her eyes fell on the piece of paper tacked to the bulletin board. As she waited for the cup to fill with water (she had it just barely trickling out of the faucet so as not to wake anybody), she looked at it absently. 

**_TEAMS WHO HAVE MADE IT TO THE SEMI-FINALS: Congratulations! Please be prepared for a change of hotels; there will be a bus provided to take you to the new one. The bus leaves early in the morning, so be sure to go to bed early! _**

THE BUS WILL LEAVE THE HOTEL AT 12:01 A.M. AND IS EXPECTED TO ARRIVE AT THE NEW HOTEL AROUND NOON OF THE FOLLOWING DAY. PLEASE MEET AT THE FRONT OF THE HOTEL FIVE MINUTES BEFORE DEPARTURE. 

12:01? Wow, that _was_ early. Out of a combination of curiousity and instinctive habit, she glanced at the clock. 

It was only when cold water started pouring over her hand from the overflowing glass that she snapped out of her shock and fully registered what time the clock read. 

**11 : 36 P.M. **

...that could be a _minor_ problem. 


	20. Passing the Time

Terribly sorry for the delay....blah blah blah...who wants to hear my excuses, anyway.

Please note: **ALL IMPORTANT INFORMATION WILL NOW BE CONTAINED IN OUR BIO. THIS INCLUDES **(but is not limited to) **THE WRITER/READER REVERSAL. **

Also, for those of you with me on your author alerts, **this is the first out of four updates I've done today. If you have not recieved all four email alerts, please check your Spam inbox or the Just-in section. Thank you.**

Now, with no further ado, on to the fic!

..::--::..

**Chapter Twenty**: Passing the Time

"COCK-A-DOODLE-**PUUU**!!"

Lights flashed on and stayed on, flooding the room with brightness too early in the morning. Blinking, sleepy eyes attempted to focus on something—the person standing by the light switch worked.

"...shizuru?"

"...what's wrong..."

"...too eeaaaaarly..." And Kuwabara flumped back on his sofa, dead to the world.

"There's no time for sleep!" Shizuru stormed over and shook her brother fiercely. "Your bus is leaving in twenty minutes—did you hear me? TWENTY MINUTES!"

"We heard, we heard," Yusuke sat up, stretching as he yawned. "Hold your horses."

"The horses," Shizuru snapped, "Are _leaving_ **_without you_**."

"What's all the ruckus?" Botan wandered in, yawning widely. "Don't you know that normal people are supposed to sleep about now?"

Shizuru "calmly" explained the problem again—by this time, panic was just starting to settle into people's minds. Covers were shoved aside, people scrambled for the bathrooms and their possessions, things thrown roughly and carelessly into bags. The lights in the girls' room was flicked on, and the girls pulled mercilessly out of their double-bed, coats buttoned on over their pajamas when they stubbornly refused to get dressed. Kozu, still too dizzy to walk, had to be carried out the door piggyback on Yusuke; Kuwabara grabbed half of their bags and Niyali's hand, the too-tired-girl allowing herself to be led out without a protest. Kurama took Arashi on his back when it became apparent she was going to fall asleep on her feet; Hiei ended up carrying the rest of the baggage.

In this way, Team Urameshi managed to catch their bus to the semi-finals—with even a couple minutes to spare.

..::--::..

When Yusuke next blinked his eyes open, day was well underway. The sun was shining through the windows, trees blurring past them as the bus drove onwards. Kuwabara was slumped into the seat next to him, snoring softly.

He stretched a bit and looked around for the rest of his team. Arashi was still fast asleep, head on Hiei's chest, said demon very much awake and not looking too happy at this turn of events. The glare he shot Yusuke told him quite clearly not to say a word, so Yusuke didn't and glanced at Kurama.

"Hey, Kurama."

"Yusuke." Kurama dog-eared a page in his book and closed it, setting it on the pile of luggage in the chair next to him. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as you can on a moving bus," Yusuke half-laughed. "What time is it?"

"After lunch. We've been riding for a little over twelve hours now."

"Twelve HOURS?!" Kurama nodded, and pushed a strand of completely-red hair behind his ear. He was fully human again, which gave all the more proof to his statement of time. Yusuke swiveled around to look at Kuwabara's watch; sure enough, it was after noon. "Darn it..." His stomach gave a loud growl. "Don't they have any food on this bus?" Something hit him in the head; it fell into his lap and he looked at the label. "Honey-Roasted Peanuts?"

"Are you going to eat those?" Niyali asked, poking her head around the seat. "'Cause I'll have 'em if you're not going to."

"Buzz off," he told her sternly, and struggled to open the package. Niyali giggled and sat back in her seat; a little tune floating to his ears told him she'd pulled out her flute and was happily playing.

The bus rolled on.

..::_Three Hours Later_::..

"This is so BORING!"

"What do you suggest we do, Urameshi?" Kuwabara turned away from the window. "Not like you brought a deck of cards, or anything."

"I thought we did!" Yusuke turned to Kurama. "Didn't you pack one?"

"I did," came the response, "However, they're at the bottom of my bag, and I—"

"Just dig them out already," Yusuke grumbled, mood going sour with each bump of the bus. "If this goes on any longer, I'm going to get carsick."

"There's a bathroom in the back," Hiei pointed out, "Or if you can't make it, I'll remind you that Kuwabara's sitting conveniently to your right."

"Watch it, shrimpy!"

..::_One And A Half Hours Later_::..

"Read 'em and weep!" Kuwabara proudly displayed his handy Full House to the other players, and reached for the "pot" precariously perched on the armrest between seats.

"Not so fast," Yusuke laid his cards down, showing his straight run of clubs. "That pot is mine."

"Sorry," Kurama swiped it from both their hands and turned his hand so they could see his royal flush. "But this belongs to me." Kuwabara groaned and threw his cards down.

"I swear you've got the deck jinxed or something," Yusuke murmured, eyeing Kurama warily (he and Kuwabara had switched seats with Arashi and Hiei so they could play). Kurama only laughed.

"I've had much more practice than you, that's all."

"Let's play a different game." Kuwabara gathered the cards and began to shuffle. "Does anybody here know how to play that Egyptian one? War or something?"

"I do," Yusuke assured him, an evil grin spreading across his face. "Deal out the deck, Kuwabara."

"You wanna play, Kurama?"

"I'll just watch this round, thanks."

"Feel free to slap in." Kuwabara quickly dealt the deck in half, and play resumed.

Across the aisle, Kozu sang quietly to herself. Arashi's ears twitched as she caught the tune and joined in; Niyali quickly picked up her long-packed away flute and started in on the harmony.

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety-nine bottles of beer..."

..::_Thirteen card games and 770 bottles of beer later::..._

_Slap._

"Damn it, Kurama!" Kurama smiled and took the pile of cards in the center, adding it to his already thick stack. Kuwabara groaned and stared at his one card remaining. He tossed it into the center and folded his arms, obviously giving up.

"We should ban you from card games," Yusuke said to Kurama, as the red-head gained control of the whole deck.

"It's not his fault your reflexes stink," said Hiei. Kuwabara glared at him.

"Do YOU want to play?"

"Why not?" Hiei slipped out from his position next to Arashi and sat on the baggage next to Kurama. "Deal, fool."

"You're so going to get it," Kuwabara muttered, and dealt out the deck again.

The girls sang on.

"One bottle of beer on the wall, one bottle of beer...take it down, put it back up, one bottle of beer on the wall..."

...::_One bottle of beer later::.._

"That's it." Yusuke threw his deck down and stood up. "I'm sick of this."

"Where are you going, Urameshi?" Kuwabara placed another card down on the stack and promptly grabbed it to keep the thing from slipping off at the upwards-angle the bus was taking.

"To ask the driver something." Yusuke stormed down the aisle towards the driver's seat. "Hey, buddy, how much longer is this ride going to take? We've been here for _hours_, and I'm not the only one getting cranky." There was no reply. "Hey! I'm a Team Captain, you can't just ignore me like that!" Furious at the lack of response, he went around the little partition to talk to him face-to-face. "HEY!"

Approximately thirty seconds later he burst out and made an announcement to the entire bus.

"There's nobody driving this thing!"

..::_To Be Continued_::..

Review Responses:

Dragonflyr: Summer....yeah....did I really abandon this for that long? Wow...

Elyndewen Startree: n.n Of course I did! Where would life be without Potter Puppet Pals? Sorry it was so confusing...sorry this update took forever...n.n;;

CHIPMUNK1: Was that fun? Of course it was. Will next chapter be fun as well? Who knows!? n.n The inspiration might!

TonyDiMerasbedroomslave: n.n Thank you!

aqua-flames: Yeah...same here. I do feel sorry for the gang....sort of....not really.

Nite Nite: Soon...was this soon? No, I didn't think so...

shadowcat241: ((groan)) Why does everyone insist on threatening me when I don't update?

SSSRoaB: Hope you're not in such a hurry now!

Masterful Foxboy A. Keysoonaer: Thank you!

flamin: Arashi hasn't sent any more out on the Counselors...we're working on our own website so we can get it "open to the public".

Minakara: Fourth of July...wow, was that a long time ago. n.n My bad.

Niana Kuonji: ....rabid Yoko fangirl....check. Stay away from rabid Yoko fangirl...check.

Aaaand that's all for the reviews! Sorry, no spoiler...I have only a very vague idea what's coming next, and I don't want to change my mind and have to change the spoiler. n.n But there's a spoiler in Chapter 19 of TGIAG, so go check that out! And as always, please review!


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